l£  AS  LITERATURE 

AN    INTRODUCTION 
IRVING  FRANCIS  W^OOD 

and 

BLIHU    GRANT 


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Bible  Study  Textbook  Series 


DFC    1  1914 


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The  Bible  As  Literature: 


AN  INTRODUCTION 


BY 


IRVING  FRANCIS  WOOD,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Biblical   Literature  and  Comparative   Religion,  Smith   College 


AND 


ELIHU  GRANT,  Ph.D. 

Associate  Professor  of  Biblical   Literature,  Smith   College 


THE    ABINGDON    PRESS 

NEW   YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
IRVING    F.    WOOD 

The  Bible  quotations  used  in  this  volume  are  taken  from. the  American  Standard 

Edition  of  the  Revised   Bible,  Copyright,  1901,  by  Thomas 

Nelson  &  Sons,  and  are  used  by  permission 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PACE 

Publishers'  Announcement 5 

Preface 7 

PART  I 

THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

Introduction 13 

THE  PROPHETIC  BOOKS 
chapter 

I.  Hebrew  Prophecy 21 

II.  Amos 26 

III.  Hosea 34 

IV.  Isaiah 40 

V.  MicAH 52 

VI.  Zephaniah,  Nahum,  and  Habakkuk 55 

VII.  Jeremiah 61 

VIII.  EzEKiEL 71 

IX.  Second  Isaiah 78 

X.  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Obadiah 86 

XI.  Malachi  and  Joel 91 

THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE 

XII.  The  Books  of  Narrative 99 

XIII.  Genesis 107 

XIV.  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Joshua 118 

XV.  Deuteronomy 123 

XVI.  Judges 127 

XVII.  The  Books  of  Samuel 132 

XVIII.  The  Books  of  Kings 137 

XIX.  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah 142 

XX.  The  Short  Stories 147 

THE  BOOKS  OF  POETRY  AND  WISDOM 

XXI.  Hebrew  Poetry  and  Wisdom 159 

XXII.  Psalms 164 

XXIII.  The  Proverbs 172 

XXIV.  Job 179 

XXV.    ECCLESIASTES I94 

XXVI.  The  Song  of  Solomon  and  Lamentations 200 

APOCALYPTIC  LITERATURE 

XXVII.  Apocalyptic  Literature 209 

XXVIII.  Daniei 213 

3 


4  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PART  II 
THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction — New  Testament  Times 223 

I.  The  New  Testament  Literature 227 

Contents — Order — The  Gospels. 

II.  The  Synoptic  Problem 230 

Origins  and  Relations  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke. 

III.  Matthew 235 

IV.  Mark 240 

V.  Luke 247 

VI.  A  Comparative  Study  of  the  Literary  Form  of  the 

Teachings  of  Jesus 252 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

VII.  The  Fourth  Gospel 261 

John. 

VIII.  Acts 268 

IX.  The  Pauline  Letters 273 

General  Survey  and  Grouping. 

X.  Thessalonians 277 

First  and  Second  Letters. 

XI.  Letter  to  the  G.\latians 281 

XII.  Romans 287 

XIII.  Corinthians 293 

First  and  Second  Corinthians. 

XIV.  Letters  Written  During  Paul's  Imprisonment.  .  .  .  300 

Philemon,  Colossians,  Ephesians,  Philippians. 

XV.  The  Pastoral  Letters 308 

First  and  Second  Timothy,  and  Titus. 

XVI.  Hebrews 314 

XVII.  The  General  Epistle  of  James 319 

XVIII.  First  Peter 323 

XIX.  Jude  and  Second  Peter 325 

XX.  The  Three  Epistles  of  John 328 

XXI.  The  Revelation 331 

Appendix 339 

LIST   OF   MAPS 

facing  page 

United  and  Divided  Hebrew  Kingdoms,  1050-586  B.  C 13 

Assyrian,  Babylonian,  and  Persian  Empires 26 

Palestine  in  The  Time  of  Jesus,  4  B.  C.-30  A.  D.  (Including  the 

Period  of  Herod  40-4  B.  C.) 223 

St.  Paul's  Journeys  and  The  Early  Christian  Church,  40-100  A.  B.  268 


PUBLISHERS'  ANNOUNCEMENT 

For  some  time  past  there  has  been  a  growing  conviction 
of  the  need  of  a  more  complete  and  comprehensive  study  of 
the  Bible  in  all  the  colleges.  Quite  recently  the  matter  has 
received  new  emphasis  and  practical  direction.  A  complete 
course  of  Bible  study  has  been  outlined  by  a  joint  committee 
representing  the  Eastern  and  Western  sections  of  the  Asso- 
ciation of  College  Instructors  in  the  Bible,  the  departments 
of  colleges  and  universities  and  of  teacher  training  of  the 
Religious  Education  Association,  the  Student  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and  Sunday  School  Council.  The  proposed 
curriculum  is  not  merely  a  theoretical  outline  but  has 
already  been  tested,  in  part,  at  some  of  the  leading  colleges 
of  the  country. 

The  complete  course  will  include  the  following  books : 
"Old  Testament  History,"  by  Prof.  Ismar  J.  Peritz,  of 
Syracuse  University ;  "New  Testament  History,"  by  Dr. 
Harris  Franklin  Rail,  President  of  Iliff  School  of  Theology  ; 
"The  Bible  as  Literature,"  by  Prof.  Irving  F.  Wood  and 
Prof.  Elihu  Grant,  of  Smith  College ;  "Social  Institutions 
and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,"  by  Prof.  Theodore  G.  Soares, 
University  of  Chicago ;  and  "The  History,  Principles  and 
Methods  of  Religious  Education,"  by  Prof,  F.  H.  Swift, 
University  of  Minnesota. 

The  publishers  take  pleasure  in  announcing  that  the 
volumes  on  New  Testament  History  and  The  Bible  as 
Literature  are  now  ready.  Professor  Peritz's  volume  on 
Old  Testament  History  will  be  published  in  time  for  use 
during  the  second  half  of  the  college  year  1914-1915,  and 
the  remaining  volumes  by  Professors  Soares  and  Swift  in 
time  for  the  opening  of  the  1915-1916  college  year.  These 
books  have  been  prepared  with  a  view  to  the  requirements 
of  the  college  course  and  the  needs  of  the  student.     The 

5 


6      PUBLISHERS'  ANNOUNCEMENT 

authors  are  acknowledged  experts  in  their  respective  fields — 
scholars  and  teachers  of  wide  repute.  The  publishers  cor- 
dially commend  this  course  to  the  attention  of  Bible  students 
and  teachers  everywhere. 

The  Abingdon  Press. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  designed  to  be  an  Introduction  to  the  Litera- 
ture of  the  Bible,  and  is  primarily  intended  for  use  in 
college  classes.  This  fixes  at  once  certain  limitations.  It 
excludes  the  technical  terms  and  the  discussion  of  detailed 
points  of  criticism  which  properly  appear  in  the  many 
biblical  introductions  written  for  the  use  of  those  with 
more  training.  It  is  an  introduction  to  the  biblical  literature 
rather  than  to  biblical  history  or  theology.  It  attempts  to 
give  such  information  as  will  make  it  possible  for  the  student 
to  enter  upon  our  literary  heritage  in  the  Bible.  That  the 
Bible  is  literature  is  no  longer  a  novel  idea,  as  it  was  to  many 
a  short  generation  ago,  but  how  to  learn  to  appreciate  its 
literary  qualities  is  not  always  clear  even  to  some  of  its 
most  devoted  readers.  Our  rightful  emphasis  on  its  religious 
value  has  obscured  its  literary  character.  Bible  study  in 
the  college  classroom  will  serve  to  place  the  Bible  in  its 
proper  position  as  a  body  of  literature.  When  we  learn  to 
appreciate  the  Bible  as  literature  we  are  better  able  to 
discover  its  true  religious  value. 

The  object  of  college  study  of  biblical  literature  is  very 
simple.  It  is  to  enable  the  student  to  read  the  English  Bible 
with  intelligent  appreciation.  He  must  understand  what  the 
writer  wished  to  say.  This  involves  knowing  something  of 
the  type  of  literature,  the  historical  background,  the  author's 
point  of  view  and  purpose,  and  the  division  and  literary 
structure  of  the  books.  Such  information  ought  to  be  given 
to  the  student  in  as  clear  and  compact  a  form  as  possible,  in 
order  that  his  time  may  chiefly  be  reserved  for  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  itself.  The  writers  of  this  Introduction  have 
tried  to  produce  a  book  which  would  send  students  to  the 
Bible.     The  topics  and  assignments  appended  to  the  chap- 

7 


8  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

ters  are  designed  to  gather  up  the  results  of  the  students' 
reading.  They  are  usually  more  full  than  would  be  re- 
quired by  a  class  which  covers  the  Bible  in  a  single  year, 
and  furnish  a  variety  from  which  the  teacher  may  select. 
Most  teachers  will  wish  to  make  changes  and  additions  to 
the  list.  They  should  usually  be  assigned  in  advance,  and 
answers  or  discussions  may  be  presented  in  oral  or  in 
written  form.  It  is  not  intended  that  the  student  shall 
answer  simply  from  the  text,  but  that  he  shall  look  up  the 
subjects  further  by  reading  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  books 
named  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  Paraphrasing  is  suggested 
as  a  frequent  exercise  in  the  earlier  lessons,  because  no  task 
so  challenges  the  student's  comprehension  of  an  author. 
How  much  of  each  of  the  biblical  books  should  be  read  in 
the  course  will  depend  on  the  time  at  command,  but  at 
least  enough  should  be  read  to  give  familiarity  with  its 
style  and  content.  It  is  necessary  to  read  with  care  nearly 
the  whole  of  Job  and  of  each  of  Paul's  letters  in  order  to 
get  the  points  of  view,  but  even  in  those  writings  there  are 
certain  parts  of  preeminent  value.  If  this  Introduction  is 
used  as  a  basis  for  study  not  of  the  whole  Bible  but  of 
biblical  masterpieces,  then  more  time  can  be  given  to  the 
separate  books.  Such  masterpieces  would  include  Amos. 
Hosea,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  Second  Isaiah,  some  of 
the  stories  from  Genesis,  Judges,  Samuel,  Psalms,  Job, 
Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Ruth,  Jonah,  Daniel,  The  Synoptic 
Gospels,  Acts,  Galatians,  Romans,  First  Corinthians,  He- 
brews, and  James.  This  includes  the  greatest  examples  of 
the  dififerent  kinds  of  literature  and  the  pivotal  books  of  the 
Hebrew  and  Christian  religions. 

This  Introduction  attempts  to  place  before  the  student 
the  main  lines  of  biblical  interpretation  as  accepted  by  the 
common  consent  of  modern  scholars. 

It  would  manifestly  be  impossible  to  note  all  variations 
of  opinion  among  even  scholars  of  repute,  but  the  writers 
have  tried  to  keep  to  the  main  highways  of  the  subject. 


PREFACE  9 

Since  this  is  a  study  of  the  literature  of  the  Bible,  there  is 
no  need  for  the  discussion  of  the  doctrines  of  inspiration 
or  revelation.  No  one  can  make  such  a  plea  for  the 
Bible  as  the  Bible  itself  makes,  when  read  with  sympathy 
and  scholarly  appreciation.  It  is  a  fact,  not  a  theological 
theory,  that  the  religious  value  of  the  Bible  is  immeasurably 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  literature  in  the  world.  Nor 
does  the  literary  study  of  the  Bible  lead  away  from  its 
religious  value.  On  the  contrary,  it  leads  by  the  surest  and 
safest  path  directly  to  this  value. 

The  order  of  study  in  this  book  is,  in  the  main,  chrono- 
logical. The  first  great  group  of  literature  to  arise  was 
the  prophetic.  It  is  convenient  to  begin  the  study  with  this, 
because  (i)  it  furnishes  the  point  of  view  from  which  the 
books  from  Genesis  to  Kings  were  written.  The  purpose  of 
these  latter  books  cannot  be  fully  understood  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  ideals  of  the  prophets.  (2)  The  prophetic 
books  are,  when  once  the  historical  background  is  under- 
stood, very  simple  and  clear.  (3)  Their  religious  concep- 
tions are  the  foundations  on  which  our  own  religious  ideals 
are  built.  (4)  They  furnish  excellent  introductions  to 
problems  of  the  composition  and  growth  of  books,  which 
appear  in  more  complicated  form  in  the  historical  books. 

While  the  writers  have  given  each  other  criticism  and 
suggestion,  each  is  responsible  for  his  own  part.  ]\Ir.  Wood 
has  written  the  Old  Testament  portion  and  the  treatment 
of  the  book  of  Revelation.  Mr.  Grant  has  written  the  New 
Testament  portion,  except  the  book  of  Revelation,  and  has 
loaned  the  use  of  his  classroom  notes  for  the  introductory 
chapter.  The  book  is  the  outcome  of  many  years  of  Bible 
teaching  in  college.  The  hope  is  that  it  may  be  of  real  value 
to  other  teachers. 

Smith  College,  19 14. 


PART    I 
THE   OLD   TESTAMENT 


II 


KENT  ANO 

HISTORICAL  MAPS 

SHEET    III 


Cop)rtsht,  1906  ud  i:*!^.  bj  ChmlM  yoctcr  h«ut 

UNITED  AND  DIVIDED  HEBREW  KINGDOMS,  1050-586  B.C. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Hebrews,  who  belonged  to  a  race  that  was  kindred 
with  the  Assyrians,  the  Syrians,  and  much  of  the  Baby- 
lonian stock,  were  a  small  people  coming  comparatively 
late  upon  the  scene  of  Asiatic  history.  They  were  related 
to  the  Arabs,  and  some  think  that  their  earliest  home  was 
in  Arabia.  By  the  time  they  came  to  anything  like  settled 
possession  of  Palestine  they  had  mingled  so  freely  with  races 
and  tribes  and  in  the  civilization  of  the  times  that  they  were 
a  sturdy  and  persistent  nation  able  to  use  the  best  that  Egypt 
or  Babylon  could  suggest,  and,  moreover,  able  to  stamp  the 
blend  with  the  mark  of  a  powerfvil  personality. 

Palestine  was  a  place  athwart  the  paths  of  the  life  of  the 
ancient  world.  The  roads  between  Egypt  and  the  East  went 
through  this  country.  Part  of  Palestine  where  these  roads 
lay  was  low  and  fertile  and  part  was  rough  and  moun- 
tainous, but  none  of  it  was  far  away  from  the  caravan  routes 
of  commerce.  Of  course  so  long  as  the  Hebrews  were  weak 
they  had  to  accept  the  poorer  part  of  the  land,  while  the 
Philistines  controlled  the  best  and  took  toll  of  the  business 
that  went  through  the  country.  Later,  as  the  Plebrews  grew 
stronger,  they  spread  more  over  the  land,  which  in  its  whole 
extent  was  not  as  large  as  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  When 
from  a  precarious  hold  and  a  divided  tribal  existence  the 
Hebrews,  now  called  Israel,  passed  to  political  union  they 
became  a  monarchy  under  Saul,  David,  and  Solomon.  These 
three  reigns  illustrate  very  well  the  rise,  climax,  and  decay 
of  a  petty  kingdom.  After  the  death  of  Solomon  the  king- 
dom split  into  two.  The  house  of  David  continued  to  rule 
in  the  southern  kingdom,  which  was  called  Judah,  while 
a  rival  series  of  dynasties  ruled  in  the  northern  king- 
dom  of    Israel.     The   northern   kingdom   was   the   richer 

13 


14  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

but  also  the  more  turbulent  and  came  to  an  end  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  years  earlier  than  the  other. 

When  did  literary  records  begin  to  be  written  in  Israel? 
We  must  observe  certain  cautions  in  approaching  this  ques- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  we  know  that  literary  interest  and 
its  products  are  slow  in  appearing  among  a  people.  Litera- 
ture must  always  wait  upon  life,  and,  so  far  as  known,  the 
literary  result  can  only  follow  the  living  fact.  When  we 
read  a  narrative  of  an  event,  for  instance,  we  should  seek 
for  principles  that  will  guide  us  in  determining  the  difiference 
in  time  between  the  event  and  the  description.  This  time 
may  vary  all  the  way  from  a  few  minutes  to  many  centuries. 
Second,  we  have  to  recognize  the  practice  of  writing,  re- 
writing, and  editing  former  records  or  other  literary  produc- 
tions. Strange  as  it  may  seem,  no  generation  of  literary 
people  is  wholly  satisfied  with  the  literary  work  of  its  prede- 
cessors. Especially  in  such  matters  as  historical  narrative, 
legal  codification,  and  statements  of  intellectual  attitude 
every  age  insists  on  its  own  version  or  edition.  This  is  not 
merely  with  the  purpose  of  including  new  materials,  but 
with  the  desire  to  make  the  former  statements  meet  the 
needs  of  present  conditions. 

Without  much  doubt  we  have  fragments  of  Hebrew  litera- 
ture that  antedate  David.  They  indicate  a  lost  literature  of 
whose  extent  we  can  only  guess.  We  can  be  a  little  more 
certain  concerning  the  nature  of  that  very  early  literature 
from  the  examples  which  we  possess.  As  with  so  many 
peoples,  it  seems  to  have  been  poetical  and  to  have  included 
ballads  and  proverbial  matter.  Besides  this  there  may  have 
been  early  mythical  tales,  quaint  legends,  and  popular 
philosophy.  All  of  this  material  may  have  existed  in  oral 
tradition  a  long  time  before  the  state  of  culture  suggested 
a  literary  form  of  it. 

Thus  it  is  not  a  question  as  to  when  the  knowledge  of 
writing  existed  in  the  world,  for  we  know  that  in  Egypt 
and  in  Babylonia  literary  culture  was  possessed  long  before 


INTRODUCTION  15 

history  knows  of  any  such  people  as  the  Hebrews.  But 
our  question  is,  When  did  the  Hebrews  rise  to  the  con- 
sciousness and  abihty  that  made  hterary  composition  pos- 
sible with  them?  Even  then  the  bulk  of  the  nation's  life 
and  activity  would  never  reach  literary  expression.  At  first 
only  a  few  possess  the  skill  to  write  and  only  the  most 
precious  interests  are  recorded.  Perhaps  that  is  the  reason 
why  early  literature  is  usually  poetry.  People  did  not  in 
those  days  put  the  prose  of  their  common  talk  into  the 
sacred  mystery  of  writing. 

The  few  precious  fragments  of  early  literature  of  the 
liebrews  reveal  their  rough  and  warlike  mind,  their  love 
of  a  good  story,  the  pathos  of  their  sorrow,  and  their 
instinctive  fellowship  with  nature. 

As  time  went  on,  their  literature  grew  till  the  nation  had 
a  large  body  of  writings.  Much  of  it  was  religious.  Those 
interested  in  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  felt  its  value. 
Gradually  it  acquired  a  peculiar  sacredness.  Men  felt  that 
through  these  books  God  spoke  to  them,  and  that  the 
writings  were  different  from  common  books.  The  final 
result  was  a  canon,  or  collection  of  sacred  books.  It  had 
no  distinct  title,  but  was  called  the  Torah  (or  Law,  from  its 
first  part)  or  the  Sacred  Writings,  The  full  title  expressed 
the  three  divisions  of  the  collection :  The  Law,  the  Prophets, 
and  the  Writings, 

The  contents  of  the  three  divisions  are: 

I.     Tlie  Lazv:  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deuteronomy. 

II.  Tlie  Proplicts:  A.  The  former  prophets:  Joshua,  Judges, 
Samuel,  Kings.  B.  The  latter  prophets :  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,     "The  Twelve"    (the  minor  prophets). 

III.  The  Writings:  Psahns,  Proverbs,  Job,  "The  Five  Rolls" 
(Song  of  Solomon,  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes, 
Esther),  Daniel,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Chronicles. 

No  single  authority  ever  made  a  canon ;  councils  could 
only    register    the    belief    which    had    already    risen.      The 


i6  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

Hebrew  canon  was  long  in  the  process  of  formation.  The 
Law  was  regarded  as  sacred  before  400  B.  C,  while  at  a. 
council  in  Jamnia  in  Palestine,  90  A.  D.,  the  Rabbis  were 
still  discussing  whether  Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song 
of  Solomon  should  have  a  place  in  the  canon. 

The  Hebrew  order  of  the  canon  is,  in  many  respects, 
much  better  than  that  which  appears  in  the  English  Bible. 
The  difference  in  order  between  Hebrew  and  English  is  due 
to  the  work  of  men  two  thousand  years  ago  when  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Hebrew  Bible  was  made  into  Greek.  This  was 
for  the  sake  of  the  large  number  of  Greek-speaking  Jews 
in  Alexandria,  between  the  third  and  first  centuries  before 
Christ.  The  version  is  known  as  the  Septuagint,  usually 
abbreviated  in  writing  to  LXX,  because  of  a  tradition  that 
seventy  translators  made  it.  The  translators  made  various 
changes ;  they  rearranged  the  books  in  what  they  considered 
a  better  order,  introduced  new  matter  into  some  of  the 
books,  and  included  certain  books  which  had  never  been  in 
the  Hebrew  canon.  This  rearranged  and  enlarged  Greek 
Bible  became  the  Bible  of  the  early  Christian  Church,  and 
was  later  translated  into  Latin  as  the  Vulgate,  or  common 
version  universally  used  in  the  Western  Church.  At  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  the  Protestants  excluded  from  their 
canon  the  LXX  additions  to  the  Hebrew  text.  These  form 
the  so-called  Apocrypha,  and  contain  certain  books  of  great 
value,  though  they  were  never  a  part  of  the  Hebrew  canon. 
The  LXX  order  of  books  was  kept,  and  is  the  order  of  the 
English  and  other  modern  versions. 

The  successful  study  of  any  ancient  collection  of  writings 
demands  (i)  the  desire  for  truth  and  (2)  the  spirit  of 
sympathy.  The  first  is  necessary  to  make  any  study  scien- 
tific. The  primary  cjuestions  in  the  biblical  field  are :  What 
are  the  facts  ?  How  did  these  books  originate  ?  Why  were 
they  written?  What  ideas  did  the  writers  intend  to  convey 
to  their  readers?  We  need  here,  as  in  all  subjects  of 
scholarship,   as   close   an   approach   to   the   exact  truth   as 


INTRODUCTION  17 

careful  investigation  can  give  us ;  only  then  are  we  able 
to  appreciate  the  books  in  their  original  significance.  But 
sympathy  is  also  needed.  No  human  expression,  whether 
in  literature  or  in  art,  yields  up  its  whole  meaning  unless 
one  enters  into  sympathy  with  the  writer  or  artist.  We  must 
learn  his  language  before  we  can  read  his  thought.  In 
contemporaneous  literature,  we  seldom  need  to  think  of 
this,  for  the  life  presented  is,  in  great  measure,  the  life  we 
ourselves  lead.  When  we  read  a  literature  remote  from 
our  own  time  or  our  type  of  civilization,  we  find  it  necessary 
to  make  an  effort  to  put  ourselves  in  sympathy  with  the 
literature.  The  life  is  not  ours,  the  ideals  are  often  different 
from  those  we  hold,  and  we  are  conscious  that  we  must 
put  ourselves  in  the  position  of  the  writer  before  we  can 
justly  appreciate  his  work.  We  recognize  this  in  the  case 
of  the  Greek  tragedies  or  the  Hindu  dramas,  or  even  of 
Dante's  Divine  Comedy  or  the  modern  Russian  novelists. 
The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Bible.  It  represents  a  life 
far  from  ours  in  time  and  in  civilization.  Its  national  and 
social  ideals  are  not  ours ;  its  religion,  though  the  basis  of 
ours,  differs  in  many  things  from  any  form  of  Christianity 
or  Judaism  in  the  present.  If  we  are  to  read  the  Bible 
with  any  real  sympathy,  we  must  be  ready  to  lay  aside 
modern  notions,  to  avoid  reading  into  it  conceptions  which 
are  not  there,  and  try  to  look  at  life  with  its  writers.  Above 
all  we  need  such  a  sympathy  to  enable  us  to  appreciate  the 
religious  value  and  message  of  the  writings.  No  mere 
study  of  historical  facts  or  literary  form  will  lead  us  into 
the  heart  of  these  books.  The  supreme  interest  of  these 
men  was  in  religion.  If  we  can  enter  into  sympathy  with 
their  interest,  we  shall  not  be  concerned  because  they  do 
not  speak  the  last  word  in  science  or  philosophy.  We 
shall  see  that  their  real  message  lies  in  the  simple  but  great 
thoughts  that  they  bring  to  us  concerning  God  and  man; 
and  we  shall  understand  why  it  is  that  men  have  set  these 
writings  by  themselves. 


THE   PROPHETIC  BOOKS 


19 


CHAPTER  I 
HEBREW  PROPHECY 

The  Hebrew  word  most  often  used  for  "prophet"  means 
a  speaker,  an  announcer.  "The  prophet  is  not  a  fore- 
teller, but  a  forthteller."  Pie  is  one  who  has  received  the 
word  of  his  God  and  speaks  it  to  his  fellows. 

Prophecy  did  not  arise  first  among  the  Hebrews.  Other 
Semitic  nations  also  had  prophets.  The  story  of  Balaam  is 
the  tradition  of  a  prophet  outside  of  Israel.  The  queen  of 
Ahab,  Jezebel,  a  princess  from  Phoenicia,  supported  prophets 
of  Baal,  and  the  local  Baals  of  Canaan  had  their  prophets. 
Every  god  had  his  devotees,  through  whom  he  spoke  to 
his  followers.  The  early  prophets  in  Israel  were  the  dev- 
otees of  Jehovah.  Since  Jehovah  was  the  national  God, 
their  devotion  had  an  element  of  patriotism,  and  they  seem 
to  have  first  come  into  prominence  in  Israel  in  the  time  of 
Samuel,  when  the  national  consciousness  was  growing  and 
the  people  were  passing  from  a  disorganized  collection  of 
tribes  to  a  unified  nation.  It  is  possible  that  this  growth 
of  a  national  sense  may  have  been  in  great  measure  their 
work.  Patriotism  and  national  religion  were  only  two 
sides  of  the  same  shield. 

Early  prophecy  appears  in  the  prophetic  bands  or  com- 
munities called  the  "sons  of  the  prophets."  At  times  they 
were  numerous,  indicating  a  large  movement.  One  hundred 
(i  Kings  i8.  4)  and  four  hundred  (i  Kings  22.  6)  are 
mentioned  as  being  in  Northern  Israel.  They  lived  together 
(2  Kings  2.  7-16)  and  thus  furnished  a  source  of  inspiration 
for  each  other.  They  made  their  homes  at  the  more  famous 
shrines  of  Jehovah;  at  Gilgal  (2  Kings  4.  38)  and  Bethel 
(2  Kings  2.  3)  or  at  the  capital,  Samaria,  where  they  might 
throw  their  influence  on  the  side  of  the  national  religion  as 

21 


22  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

against  the  cults  of  gods  from  abroad.  They  were  guilds 
organized  to  develop  the  national  religion.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  this  guild  of  prophets  was  a  Hebrew 
invention.  When  there  were  four  hundred  prophets  of 
Baal  in  Israel  at  the  time  of  Ahab,  it  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate a  prophetic  community  among  them  also.  It  was  a 
widespread  Semitic  institution,  used  in  various  religions  for 
kindred  purposes. 

Prophecy  rests  on  the  belief  that  men  may  do  deeds  and 
speak  words  under  the  direct  inspiration  of  God.  All 
religions  which  have  held  to  the  worship  of  a  personal, 
active  god  have  had  some  expression  of  this  belief.  The 
shaman  of  Central  Asia,  beating  his  drum  and  working 
himself  into  a  frenzy ;  the  American  Indian  medicine  man ; 
Socrates,  with  his  belief  in  his  demon ;  the  Delphic  oracle ; 
the  Mohammedan  dervish,  the  common  Christian  concep- 
tion of  conversion  are  all  illustrations  of  this  same  belief. 
Prophecy,  then,  does  not  stand  isolated  among  the  religious 
phenomena  of  the  world.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  in  its 
essence  one  of  the  most  common  elements  of  religion,  ap- 
pearing in  any  stage  of  religion  and  culture. 

Prophecy  in  its  earlier  forms  interpreted  any  experiences 
which  seemed  strange  as  coming  from  God.  The  most  fre- 
quent experiences  thus  interpreted  were  dreams,  visions,  and 
any  strong  emotion.  Any  excitement  which  seemed  to  take 
a  man  outside  of  himself  was  by  early  races  naturally  as- 
cribed to  God.  At  first  such  cases  were  infrequent  and 
spontaneous.  These  experiences  became  desired ;  later  they 
became  professionalized.  Men  found  that  the  emotion  could 
be  induced  by  music,  bodily  motions,  dancing,  even  by  drugs. 

Two  Old  Testament  narratives  show  the  prophetic  com- 
munities at  worship:  i  Sam  lo.  lo  to  12  and  19.  20  to  24. 
Both  show  worship  in  its  cruder  forms.  "Prophecy"  in  these 
instances  is  the  community  worshiping  together,  under  the 
lead  of  their  head  and  inspired  by  music.  The  passing 
stranger  may  join  it,  but  he  is  liable  to  be  physically  ex- 


HEBREW  PROPHECY  23 

hausted  by  its  efforts.  The  worshipers  were  swept  out  of 
themselves  by  waves  of  feehng,  and  in  such  a  state  their 
utterances  were  thought  to  be  utterances  of  their  God.  Kin- 
dred uses  of  worship  are  found  in  the  Greek  mysteries,  the 
Central  Asian  shamans,  and  later  in  the  Sufi  orders  in 
Persian  Islam  and  the  various  other  dervish  communities 
of  the  Mohammedan  world.  In  all  this  kind  of  worship 
emotion  rules  and  reason  and  thought  are  suppressed. 
Indeed,  the  most  complete  type  of  the  worship  is  when  reason 
and  thought  entirely  disappear  in  a  wild  welter  of  emotion. 

This  seems  very  far  from  the  clear  insight,  the  keen  per- 
ceptions, the  magnificent  oratory  and  calm  statesmanship  of 
the  later  prophets,  who  in  solitude  worked  out  their  moral 
positions.  Yet  the  latter  grew  out  of  the  former,  and  the 
same  word,  ''prophet, "  was  used  for  both.  Four  things  make 
the  connection :  ( i )  The  devotion  to  the  interest  of  the 
national  God,  Jehovah.  (2)  The  confident  assurance  that 
Jehovah  spoke  through  them.  (3)  The  warmth  of  emotion 
which  probably  always  accompanied  this  assurance.  In  the 
earlier  prophets  the  feeling  was  induced  by  music  and  com- 
munity inspiration;  in  the  later,  by  long  meditations  on  the 
moral  problems  of  the  nation.  (4)  The  strong  desire  to  win 
the  nation  to  a  more  complete  service  of  the  national  God. 

The  prophetic  books  contain  four  classes  of  literature : 
(i)  The  poem.  Sometimes  the  whole  book  is  a  poem,  as 
Nahum.  Often  detached  poems  occur  in  the  books  of 
oratory.  (2)  The  oration.  These  might  properly  be  called 
sermons.  They  are  extracts  or  summaries  of  addresses 
whose  object  was  to  move  the  people  toward  some  imme- 
diate moral  or  political  course  of  action.  As  in  most 
Semitic  oratory,  they  were  often  in  verse,  the  more  intense 
and  passionate  utterances  almost  always  rising  into  poetry. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  books  called  in  the  modern  Bible 
prophetic  are  composed  of  orations.  (3)  The  tract,  seem- 
ingly first  written  rather  than  spoken.  This  occurs  only  in 
the  later  history  of  prophecy.     It  is  usually  more  formal 


24  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

than  the  oration,  and  has  less  fire  and  passion.  The  best 
example  is  Alalachi.  (4)  In  the  Hebrew  Bible,  the  books 
of  tradition  and  history  from  Joshua  to  2  Kings  are  classed 
as  prophetic.  They  are  sermons  in  story  form,  showing  that 
God  has  guided  the  history  of  Israel  and  now  demands  the 
service  of  his  people. 

The  books  of  the  prophets  are  among  the  most  obscure 
in  the  Bible,  (i)  They  are  "tracts  for  the  times."  Each  of 
them  grows  out  of  some  particular  historical  situation.  The 
reader  must  bring  to  the  book  some  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
histor)^  in  order  to  understand  it ;  though  often  a  very  little 
historical  knowledge  is  sufficient.  (2)  They  are  filled  with 
allusions  which  are  now  strange  to  us.  The  figures,  every- 
where abundant  in  them,  are  drawn  from  a  life  and  civiliza- 
tion with  which  ours  has  little  in  common.  Most  of  the 
books  are  orations,  and  the  strength  of  an  orator  lies  in 
his  immediate  appeal  to  what  is  uppemiost  in  the  minds 
of  his  hearers.  Oratory  is  almost  the  half  of  a  conversation. 
No  one  hears  the  other  half,  but  the  orator  feels  it.  He  who 
later  reads  the  oration  often  finds  it  obscure  because  his 
mind  does  not  respond  as  did  the  minds  of  the  hearers. 
(3)  Most  of  the  books  of  the  prophets  are  fragments  of 
oratory,  excerpts,  or  summaries  of  speeches.  We  must 
not  expect  to  find  in  such  books  a  line  of  thought  developing 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as  we  do  in  an  essay,  (4) 
The  text  is  sometimes  corrupt.  Every  ancient  book  suffers 
from  corruption  of  text,  in  its  passage  through  the  hands 
of  many  copyists.  The  books  of  the  Old  Testament  have 
suffered  no  more  than  others ;  in  fact,  they  have  fared  better 
than  most  ancient  books,  but  it  is  not  surprising  that,  in 
writings  so  fragmentary  and  obscure,  there  should  be 
some  passages  where  the  text  that  has  come  down  to  us  is 
imperfect.  These  passages  are  not  so  numerous  as  to  obscure 
the  main  thoughts  of  any  book.  They  only  form  occasional 
stumbling-blocks  to  the  reader.  (5)  The  books,  as  arranged 
in  the  Bible,   are  not  in  chronological  order,  nor  is   the 


HEBREW  PROPHECY  25 

order  of  contents  within  the  books  themselves  always 
chronological.  Any  connected  study  of  prophecy  must  take 
the  prophetic  literature  in  the  order  of  its  production,  so 
far  as  that  order  can  be  discovered.  In  a  few  cases  the 
date  of  a  prophetic  utterance  must  remain,  for  the  present, 
uncertain.  (6)  Nearly  all  the  prophetic  books  contain  the 
words  of  other  prophets,  added  or  inserted.  Sometimes  the 
extra  material  consists  of  only  a  few  verses ;  sometimes, 
as  in  Isaiah,  the  greater  part  of  the  book  is  from  other 
persons  than  the  prophet  whose  name  it  bears.  Occasionally 
bits  of  choice  literature  are  thus  preserved,  and  one  is  grate- 
ful alike  to  the  anonymous  authors  and  to  the  unknown 
editors  who  preserved  them  from  oblivion. 

No  religious  movement  in  the  world  was  more  important 
than  prophecy.  In  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  religions  it 
furnishes  the  religious  basis  for  morals ;  for  the  worship  of 
one  God ;  for  individual  religion  as  over  against  national 
religion ;  for  the  conception  of  a  personal  relation  between 
man  and  God.  Every  idea  which  later  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity cherished  as  essential  came,  at  least  in  germ,  from 
the  prophets.  The  center  of  the  religious  value  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  in  the  prophetic  literature. 

Classification  of  the  prophets : 

I.  Preexilic.  Eighth  Century  B.  C.  (Early  preexilic)  :  Amos, 
Hosea,  Isaiah,  Micah.  Seventh  Century  (Later  preexilic)  :  Zepha- 
niah,  Nahum,  Habakkuk,  Jeremiah. 

II.  Exilic:   Ezekiel,  Second  Isaiah  (Isa   40-66). 

III.  PosTEXiLic:   Haggai,  Zechariah,   Obadiah,   Malachi,  Joel. 


CHAPTER  II 

AMOS 

The  first  complete  book  of  Hebrew  literature  which 
has  come  down  to  us  is  the  little  book  of  the  Prophet 
Amos.  It  is  scarcely  more  than  a  pamphlet.  It  was 
later  gathered  with  eleven  other  prophetic  pamphlets 
into  one  roll,  and  called  The  Twelve  Books.  The  small 
size  of  these  books  has  given  them  the  name  of  the 
minor  prophets.  In  importance,  however,  some  of  them 
are  far  from  being  minor.  No  one  of  them  is  greater  in 
its  literary  quality  or  in  its  religious  influence  than  Amos. 
No  book  in  all  the  prophetic  literature  is  more  worthy  of 
study  than  this  little  masterpiece  of  Hebrew  oratory. 
Ideas  appear  here  in  germ  whose  full  significance  for  life 
the  world  has  hardly  yet  realized. 

Israel's  history  as  a  nation  began  with  the  shortlived 
career  of  the  united  kingdom,  under  Saul,  David,  and 
Solomon,  when  in  a  space  of  scarcely  more  than  a 
century  Israel  rose  from  an  agglomeration  of  disorganized 
tribes  to  a  kingdom,  reaching  from  the  borders  of  Egypt 
to  the  Euphrates.  The  tradition  of  this  period  of  splendor 
always  remained  in  the  memory  of  the  people,  and  as 
time  passed,  gathered  the  glamor  of  romance.  Neither 
the  people  nor  their  rulers,  however,  had  the  long  dis- 
cipline which  fits  a  nation  for  empire.  After  the  death  of 
Solomon  the  tribes,  never  thoroughly  united,  fell  apart 
into  the  two  kingdoms  of  Northern  Israel  (called  Israel  or 
Ephraim)  and  Southern  Israel  (Judah).  Of  these.  North- 
ern Israel  was  the  richer  in  extent  of  territory,  fertility  of 
land,  commercial  routes  and  number  of  population.  It  was 
also  richer  in  prophetic  activity  and  in  literature.     The  two 

greatest   prophets  before  Amos,  Elijah   and   EHsha,   lived 

26 


AMOS  2-] 

and  worked  in  Northern  Israel.  The  advantage  lay  dis- 
tinctly with  the  Northern  kingdom. 

About  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  had  passed  between 
the  division  and  the  time  of  Amos.  Few  nations  have  had 
greater  variations  of  fortune  in  that  length  of  time  than  had 
Northern  Israel.  Revolutions  had  been  numerous,  changes 
of  dynasty  had  been  frequent.  Wars  and  foolish  rulers 
had  sometimes  brought  the  kingdom  to  the  verge  of  ex- 
tinction; and  again  able  kings  and  the  help  of  foreign  alli- 
ances had  lifted  it  into  prosperity. 

The  time  of  Amos  was  a  period  of  exceptional  prosperity. 
Jeroboam  II  (783-743  B.  C.)  was  king.  His  long  reign  was 
a  time  of  development  at  home  and  expansion  abroad.  The 
rule  of  Israel  extended  to  the  Euphrates,  and  included  the 
territory  of  Moab  beyond  the  Dead  Sea.  It  must  have 
seemed  to  the  people  that  the  old  kingdom  of  Solomon  was 
about  to  be  renewed,  with  Samaria  instead  of  Jerusalem  as 
its  capital.  The  wealth  of  the  nation  grew  with  its  territory. 
Control  of  the  routes  of  trade  brought  commerce,  and  con- 
quest brought  tribute.  The  bazaars  of  Samaria  were  filled 
with  luxuries  from  Egypt  and  Babylonia.  Then  the  old 
simplicity  of  Israel  began  to  disappear.  A  body  of  new 
rich  arose  whose  wealth  purchased  luxury  and  whose  avarice 
led  to  the  oppression  of  the  poorer  classes.  As  often  with 
the  new  rich,  the  old  sense  of  obligation  and  brotherhood 
disappeared.  The  arrogance  of  wealth  was  in  danger  of 
wrecking  the  unity  of  the  nation.  There  was  no  decrease, 
however,  of  the  forms  of  religion.  Northern  Israel  had 
two  great  historic  shrines,  one  far  in  the  north,  at  Dan,  the 
other  near  the  southern  border,  at  Bethel.  The  southern 
was  more  famous.  It  was  the  royal  shrine  (Amos  7.  13) 
and  was  accessible  to  more  people  than  was  Dan.  Other 
shrines  also  were  scattered  about  the  country,  old  high 
places  at  which  Canaanite  Baals  had  been  worshiped  long 
before  the  Hebrews  came  into  the  Palestine  hills.  These 
old  Baals  were  still  worshiped  there,  and  on  the  same  altars, 


28  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

often  by  the  same  persons,  sacrifices  were  also  offered  to 
Jehovah.  Religion  prospered  and  men  sought  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  wealth  gathered  by  the  oppression  of  their 
brethren.  Two  dangers,  one  external  and  one  internal, 
threatened  the  security  of  their  new  flood  of  wealth.  The 
conquest  of  surrounding  states  had  been  made  possible  by 
the  weakness  of  Assyria,  the  country  which  during  this 
period  claimed  lordship  over  the  region  from  the  Euphrates 
to  the  Red  Sea.  A  succession  of  weak  kings  had  occupied 
the  Assyrian  throne.  This  had  given  Israel  the  opportunity 
to  throw  off  Assyrian  allegiance  and  to  subjugate  the 
smaller  neighboring  states.  It  required  no  great  political 
insight  to  see  that  whenever  a  strong  king  came  to  the 
throne  of  Assyria  this  ambitious  empire  would  strip  Israel 
of  her  dependencies,  taking  away  her  sources  of  wealth, 
and  would  lay  upon  her  the  burden  of  a  heavier  tribute  than 
before.  Every  Hebrew  must  have  known  in  his  heart  that 
the  nation  was  moving  toward  this  fate  as  inevitably  as  the 
sun  toward  its  setting.  It  made  a  terrifying  threat  which 
any  bold  reformer  might  use.  The  internal  danger  was  more 
subtle,  but  not  less  real,  and  perhaps  few  people  saw  it. 
It  was  the  danger  that  social  disunion  would  bring  national 
weakness.  When  the  inevitable  invasion  from  Assyria  should 
come,  who  would  meet  it?  The  strength  of  the  nation  lay 
in  its  peasantry,  the  very  class  now  being  weakened  and 
disheartened  by  the  oppressive  arrogance  of  the  rich.  In 
case  of  invasion,  its  bond  of  brotherhood  broken,  its  rich 
enfeebled  by  luxury  and  its  poor  by  grinding  poverty,  its 
old  democracy  displaced  by  an  embittered  class  hatred, 
what  could  the  nation  do  but  yield  itself  to  slavery,  loot, 
and  massacre?  A  religious  man  like  Amos  might  well  say 
that  this  would  be  the  punishment  of  God  for  the  social  sins 
of  the  rich.    Plainly  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  prophet. 

The  exact  date  of  Amos  is  not  given  in  the  book.  The 
titles  of  all  the  earlier  prophetic  books  have  a  common  form, 
and  seem  to  be  the  work  of  those  who  later  collected  and 


AMOS  29 

arranged  these  writings,  and  who  are  usually  called  editors, 
or  redactors.  The  title  of  Amos  assigns  his  work  to  the 
reigns  of  Uzziah  of  Judah  (779-740)  and  Jeroboam  of 
Israel  (783-743).  The  editor  tried  to  be  exact  by  making 
a  reference  to  the  earthquake,  but,  unfortunately,  the  modern 
reader  cannot  date  the  earthquake.  The  exact  date  of 
Amos  must  rest,  as  often  in  biblical  books,  on  inferences 
from  the  historical  background.  Before  Amos  wrote,  there 
had  been  time  in  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  for  the  development 
of  wealth  and  class  distinctions.  The  extent  of  Israel  from 
the  entrance  of  Hamath  to  the  brook  of  the  Arabah  (6.  14) 
indicates  a  period  well  along  in  the  reign.  The  year  760 
B.  C.  is  a  fairly  approximate  date,  with  a  possibility  that 
it  may  be  as  late  as  750. 

Amos  was  a  peasant,  a  herdsman  of  the  Judaean  village 
Tekoah,  which  lay  on  the  border  of  the  wilderness,  twelve 
miles  south  of  Jerusalem  (i.  i).  He  did  not  belong  to  the 
prophetic  profession  (7.  14-17).  He  combined  the  care  of 
sycamore  trees  with  his  shepherding — hard  work  with  doubt- 
less poor  pay.  But  the  peasant  was  a  genius.  Perhaps 
journeys  to  sell  wool  had  taken  him  to  the  marts  of  Israel. 
He  had  seen  the  wealth  and  the  poverty  of  the  Northern 
kingdom.  He  had  the  keenness  to  perceive  its  result,  the 
boldness  of  a  reformer  to  speak  his  convictions.  He  ap- 
peared at  the  shrine  of  Bethel,  probably  on  the  occasion  of 
a  feast  when  the  town  was  crowded.  There  he  poured 
out  his  invectives  against  the  unscrupulous  possessors  of 
power.  His  style  is  lucid,  compact,  vigorous.  He  is  eloquent 
without  being  verbose.  Among  the  prophets,  no  one  is 
more  keen,  more  clear  in  thought  and  expression,  than  the 
"rustic"  Amos. 

The  book  is  divided  into  three  parts:  (i)  chs.  i  and 
2;  (2)  chs.  3  to  6;  (3)  chs.  7  and  8. 

Part  I.  Chapter  i.  2  is  a  four-line  stanza,  forming  a 
text  for  the  entire  collection  of  extracts.  After  reading  the 
book,  turn  back  to  it  and  see  how  it  summarizes  the  contents. 


30  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Chapter  i.  3  to  2.  16  is  an  introductory  discourse,  longer 
and  more  orderly  than  most  summaries  of  sermons  in  the 
prophetic  books.  It  is  a  series  of  stanzas,  each  denouncing 
a  nation  for  its  cruelty  in  war,  and  threatening  punishment. 
It  is  a  very  skillful  piece  of  oratory.  The  prophet  encircles 
the  land  of  Israel  with  a  series  of  denunciations  of  her  foes. 
Emphasis  is  lent  by  the  reiteration  of  the  phrases.  The 
audience  must  have  listened  to  the  denunciation  of  their 
enemies  with  pleasure.  At  last  the  same  formula  is  used 
to  bring  a  curse  upon  Israel  (2.  6).  Here  the  speaker  dwells 
upon  the  reasons  for  punishment,  and  specifies  charges  of 
cruelty  and  immorality.  In  this  stanza  the  prophet  reaches 
the  climax  of  the  discourse.  He  asserts  that  the  Hebrews 
are  guilty  of  more  inexcusable  barbarity  and  sin  than  those 
nations  to  whose  denunciation  they  have  eagerly  listened. 
The  vague  threats  in  2.  13-16  were  interpreted  plainly 
enough  by  his  hearers  as  of  a  threatened  Assyrian  invasion, 
and  their  very  indefiniteness  must  have  strengthened  the 
impression  upon  the  audience. 

Chapter  2.  4,  5  (against  Judah)  may  not  be  a  part  of 
the  original  oracle.  The  stanza  is  less  vigorous  than  the 
others,  contains  phrases  which  belong  to  the  later  prophetic 
style,  and  deals  with  Judah,  while  the  rest  of  the  book  deals 
with  Israel. 

The  passage  should  be  read  as  a  masterpiece  of  oratory. 
In  compelling  the  attention  of  the  audience  it  may  be  com- 
pared with  Antony's  speech  over  the  dead  body  of  Caesar. 
Notice  the  use  of  repetition ;  of  climax ;  of  the  expanded 
charge  against  Israel  in  ch.  2 ;  of  the  obscure  reference  to 
Assyria  at  the  close. 

Part  II.  Chapters  3  to  6.  A  series  of  extracts,  in  the 
main  enlarging  the  charge  against  Israel  in  ch.  2,  specifying 
the  social  crime  of  the  rich,  and  threatening  punishment. 
No  one  line  of  thought  can  be  traced,  as  in  chs.  i  and  2. 
Interruptions  break  in,  as  for  example,  the  prophet's  apology 
for  speaking,  3.  3-8;  the  savage  denunciation  of  the  women 


AMOS  31 

as   fat   cattle,   who   care    for   nothing   but   drink   and   lazy 
luxury,  4.  1-3.    The  following  divisions  may  be  made: 

1.  Ch.  3.   1-15.     Luxury  and  its  doom. 

2.  Ch.  4.  1-3.  The  doom  of  the  worthless  wives  of  oppressive 
men. 

3.  Ch.  4.  4-13.  Forms  of  religion  are  vain.  Punishment  has 
already  come  and  more  is  to  follow. 

4.  Ch.  5.  1-17.     The  lament  over  Israel. 

5.  Ch.  5.  18-27.  Woe  to  those  who  would  see  a  "day  of  Jeho- 
vah!" He  can  only  come  with  punishment,  invasion,   and  exile. 

6.  Ch.  6.  1-14.  Woe  to  those  who  fancy  themselves  secure  in 
their  possessions.    Jehovah  is  preparing  a  nation  to  punish  them. 

Notice  in  reading  this  section  the  frequent  recurrence  of 
certain  ideas;  the  satirical  description  of  wealth  (does  this 
mark  the  peasant?)  ;  denunciation  of  the  attitude  of  the 
rich  toward  the  poor  ;  scorn  of  the  popular  religion ;  morality 
as  more  religious  than  worship  ;  natural  calamities  as  pimish- 
ments  from  God ;  veiled  allusions  to  Assyria ;  the  vigor  of 
denunciation  in  it  all. 

Part  III.  Chapters  7  to  9.  A  series  of  visions  with  ( i ) 
a  parenthetical  narrative  (7.  10-17),  (2)  a  paragraph  of 
denunciation,  akin  to  Part  II  (8.  8-14),  and  (3)  an  epilogue 
(9.  7-15).  Read  the  visions,  noting  how  each  is  a  threat 
of  punishment,  ending,  like  section  i,  in  a  longer  denuncia- 
tion. The  vision  in  8.  if.  rests  on  a  pun,  kayifs  (summer 
fruit)  suggests  ket::  (end).  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to 
determine  whether  these  visions  were  experiences  of  the 
prophet  or  literary  devices  to  make  more  vivid  his  sense  of 
God's  patience  and  the  final  doom  which  must  surely  come. 
It  would  be  quite  natural,  however,  that  the  long  brooding 
of  this  shepherd  in  his  lonely  watches  should  have  resulted 
in  visions.  Other  men  have  felt  called  to  prophesy  because 
they  had  such  experiences.  It  may  be  that  Amos  left  his 
flocks  and  his  sycamore  trees  for  the  hostile  crowds  of  Bethel 
under  the  impulse  of  these  visions. 

The  epilogue    (9.  7-15)    seems  to  be  an  addition  to  the 


32  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

book.  There  is  no  ray  of  hope  for  the  future  of  Israel  else- 
where among  the  extracts  from  Amos'  speeches.  He  was  in 
no  mood  to  say  smooth  things  to  these  self-satisfied  people, 
luxuriating  in  their  ill-gotten  gain.  This  final  section 
promises  prosperity  without  stint ;  but,  curiously  enough,  it 
is  not  the  prosperity  of  Northern  Israel,  but  of  Judah.  The 
historical  situation  presents  Judah  in  exile  (9.  11,  14)  a 
condition  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Amos's  time, 
and  restoration  from  this  exile  is  promised.  The  thought 
and  style  are  those  of  the  prophets  of  the  Judsean  exile, 
not  of  Amos.  It  was  probably  placed  here  by  an  editor, 
who  thought  that  the  book  would  be  a  more  just  presentation 
of  the  truth  about  God  if  it  showed  his  mercy  as  well  as 
his  severity.  The  fragment  is  an  excellent  piece  of  Judaean 
prophecy,  and  we  may  be  glad  it  was  preserved,  even  if  out 
of  its  historical  connection. 

The  result  of  Amos's  work  is  not  known.  Certainly, 
as  we  see  from  Hosea,  it  produced  no  national  reform,  and 
probably  made  hardly  a  ripple  on  the  current  of  Israel's 
prosperity.  When  that  prosperity  vanished,  when  revolu- 
tions and  invasions  brought  war  and  poverty,  and  Israel  fell 
before  the  Assyrian  army,  then  men  began  to  realize  the 
truth  of  this  peasant-prophet's  insight.  His  words  were 
treasured  by  like-minded  men,  and  this  little  book  of  extracts 
became  a  permanent  part  of  the  literature  of  the  nation. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Make  a  careful  paraphrase  of  one  of  the   following  passages, 

putting  all  its  ideas  in  your  own  language,  and  bringing  out 
the  emphasis  of  the  passage  on  the  main  conceptions:  i.  i  to 
2.  8;  or  3.  4-12;  or  8.  8-14. 

2.  Give  a  summary  of  the  main  thought  of  chs.  i  and  2 ;  chs.  3  to  6. 

3.  State  the  meaning  of  the  different  visions  in  chs.  7  to  9. 

4.  What  characteristics  of  style  do  you  find  in  Amos?     Note  pas- 

sages illustrating  these  characteristics. 

5.  Where  does  Amos  use  sarcasm  and  irony? 

6.  Read  ch.  g.   9-15,   and   compare   with  the   rest   of  the  book  in 


AMOS  33 

main  idea,  style,  and  historical  situation,  to  see  whether  it 
comes  from  Amos. 

What  was  Amos's  attitude  toward  wealth? 

What  likenesses  and  dififerences  in  the  social  problem  between 
Israel  in  Amos's  day  and  our  country?  Are  we  subject  to 
the  dangers  he  saw  in  Israel?     If  not,  why? 

What  was  Amos'  solution  of  tlie  social  problem?  Is  it  applica- 
ble to  our  time?  Does  it  make  a  sufficient  solution  for  our 
problems? 


CHAPTER  III 
HOSEA 

When  Amos  spoke,  Northern  Israel,  under  Jeroboam  II, 
was  at  the  height  of  a  period  of  prosperity.  After  Jero- 
boam's death,  in  743,  there  was  a  time  of  confusion  and 
revolutions.  No  succeeding  king  of  Israel  had  the  strength 
to  place  his  throne  upon  a  stable  foundation.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  if  the  personal  skill  of  any  ruler  could  have  pre- 
served national  prosperity.  In  745  Tiglath  Pileser  IV  came 
to  the  throne  of  Assyria.  He  was  an  able  king,  and  soon 
established  his  empire  and  turned  his  armies  toward  the  re- 
bellious west.  He  deprived  Israel  of  her  tributary  territories, 
and  when  tribute  and  trade  were  lost,  the  prosperity  of  Israel 
came  speedily  to  an  end.  He  demanded  tribute  from  Israel 
and  stood  ready  to  aid  any  aspirant  to  the  throne  who  would 
promise  submission  to  Assyria.  In  addition  to  external 
troubles,  the  selfish  greed  of  the  upper  classes  had  destroyed 
the  sense  of  unity  and  patriotism  in  the  nation,  so  that  a 
disheartened  and  embittered  people  fell  an  easy  prey  to 
either  invaders  from  without  or  ambitious  adventurers  from 
within.  It  was  a  sorry  ending  to  the  splendid  era  of  wealth 
and  commerce  under  Jeroboam  II,  but  it  was  the  inevitable 
result  of  the  disintegrating  social  forces  which  Amos  had 
denounced. 

The  political  confusion  of  the  kingdom  is  seen  in  the  list 
of  kings  following  the  long  reign  of  Jeroboam: 

Zechariah,  743,  six  months.     Son  of  Jeroboam  II. 
Shallum,  one  month. 

Menahem,  743-737;  seated  with  the  assistance  of  Assyria. 
Pekahiah,  737-736,  son  of  Menahem. 
Pekah,  736-730. 

Hoshea,  730-722,  placed  on  the  throne  by  Assyria.  Later  he  re- 
volted, was  defeated,  and  the  kingdom  was  conquered  by  Assyria. 

34 


ROSEA  35 

The  date  of  Hosea,  like  that  of  Amos,  must  be  inferred 
from  the  historical  background.  If  the  judgment  of  the 
later  editor  who  prefixed  the  title  (i.  i)  is  correct,  Hosea's 
work  began  before  743  and  lasted  till  after  726  (or  716), 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  Most  of  the  book 
was  written  before  734.  In  that  year  Assyria  deported  the 
people  of  Gilead,  but  in  6.  8;  12.  11,  Gilead  is  mentioned  as 
still  belonging  to  Israel.  Hosea  is  also  silent  as  to  the  attack 
of  Northern  Israel  on  Judah  in  735.  Much  of  chs.  3  to  14 
seems  to  picture  a  time  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  such  as 
followed  the  reign  of  Jeroboam.  The  fragments  from 
Hosea's  addresses  may  be  dated  between  746  and  735. 
Hosea  prophesied  regarding  Northern  Israel,  and,  unlike 
Amos,  was  a  resident  of  that  land.  He  worked  under  the 
same  social  conditions  as  Amos,  except  that,  during  at  least 
the  latter  part  of  his  career,  the  false  security  of  Amos's 
day  was  gone,  and  the  ugly  results  of  personal  greed  and 
social  disunion  had  already  begun  to  appear.  Hosea  was 
not  a  peasant.  If  not  from  the  wealthy  nobles  of  Samaria, 
he  was  at  least  a  man  of  substance,  belonging  to  the  very 
class  which  Amos  had  so  scornfully  denounced. 

Hosea's  prophecy  grew  out  of  his  personal  experiences. 
The  story  is  told  in  chs.  i  and  3  (ch.  2  is  a  paragraph  of 
a  prophetic  sermon,  making  an  interlude  in  the  narrative). 
It  is  told  so  obscurely  that  many  have  supposed  it  to  be 
merely  an  allegory.  The  tender  feeling  of  the  whole  book, 
however,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  story  is  a  real 
history.  Hosea  had  married  a  wife  whom  he  calls  "Gomer 
the  daughter  of  Diblaim."  Both  names  are  strange,  and 
perhaps  assumed  to  hide  the  real  name.  After  a  life  with 
him  which  only  proved  her  unfaithfulness,  she  left  him. 
But  he  could  not  cease  loving  her,  and  later  when  he  fovuid 
her  in  the  market  to  be  sold  as  a  slave,  her  attractiveness 
gone,  her  career  of  pleasure  ended,  he  bought  her  back,  pay- 
ing the  common  price  of  a  household  servant,  and  took  her 
home,  where  she  could  find  shelter  and  be  his  ward,  even 


36  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

if  not  worthy  to  be  his  wife.  It  is  a  story  of  love  worthy 
to  be  the  parallel  of  the  tale  of  Guinevere  and  King  Arthur. 

As  he  meditated  upon  his  love  for  his  unfaithful  wife,  it 
seemed  to  him  that  God's  love  for  Israel  was  like  this.  He 
felt  that  it  gave  him  a  message  for  his  people.  When  he 
came  to  tell  the  story  he  could  see  God's  hand  in  all  the 
events,  and  say  that  God  had  sent  him  to  make  this  unhappy 
marriage.  The  message  presents  an  antinomy:  punishment 
and  love.  Sin  must  be  punished ;  but  if  he,  a  man,  cannot 
abandon  his  love  for  his  unfaithful  wife,  is  it  possible  that 
God  can  abandon  his  love  for  Israel? 

These  circumstances  account  for  the  most  prominent 
literary  character  of  this  book,  its  expression  of  emotion. 
Few  books  in  the  Bible  so  vibrate  with  emotion  as  the 
prophecy  of  Hosea.  This  rises  from  several  causes.  ( i ) 
The  tragedy  of  his  own  life  was  so  deep  that  it  carried  its 
feeling  over  into  the  prophecy.  The  thought  of  the  love 
of  God  for  Israel,  a  new  idea  in  the  literature  of  the  nation, 
was  born  out  of  the  sadness  of  a  human  life.  (2)  The 
antinomy  of  inevitable  punishment  and  unconquerable  love 
presents  an  emotional  situation.  How  can  this  conflict  of 
forces  be  solved?  (3)  Hosea  was  not,  like  Amos,  a 
foreigner,  but  was  forced  to  denounce  his  own  people. 

The  emotion  shows  itself  in  the  style.  The  prophet's 
utterances  are  disconnected,  passing  by  rapid  transitions 
from  denunciation  to  passionate  pleading,  sometimes  break- 
ing down  completely  into  exclamation.  In  Amos  we  had  the 
eloquence  of  keen  reasoning.  Here  we  have  the  eloquence 
of  an  overwhelming  emotion.  Amos  calls  to  the  stern  duties 
of  morality ;  Hosea,  to  the  no  less  imperative  duty  created 
by  love. 

Since  Hosea's  basis  of  thought  is  the  personal  relation 
of  Israel  to  God,  like  that  of  a  wife  to  her  husband,  it  is 
natural  that  he  should  emphasize  religion,  as  Amos  does 
morality.  He  also  recognizes  the  social  problems,  but  as  a 
part  of  the  deeper  question  of   Israel's  relation  to   God. 


HOSEA  37 

Israel  is  unfaithful  to  God,  though  the  altars  of  Jehovah 
are  loaded  with  sacrifices,  not  merely  because  the  people  also 
worship  the  Canaanite  Baals,  but  because  they  rob,  break 
contracts,  oppress  the  poor,  accept  bribes  in  judgment, 
and  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent.  Here  also  we  begin  to 
meet  the  charge,  frequent  in  later  prophets,  that  the  people 
trust  their  safety  to  treaties  with  other  nations  rather  than 
to  the  strength  of  Jehovah  (7.  11 ;  8.  9). 

The  book  is  even  more  a  series  of  extracts  than  is  Amos. 
Each  chapter  may  be  regarded  as  a  separate  section,  often 
broken  into  smaller  divisions.  Within  the  sections  there  is 
seldom  much  progress  of  thought.  The  beginning  and  the 
end  of  the  book  are  appropriate  to  their  places,  but  beyond 
that  the  sections  stand  in  no  order.  Some  of  the  passages 
are  almost  hopelessly  obscure,  and  in  some  cases  the  text 
is  certainly  corrupt.  The  general  meaning  of  the  various 
sections,  however,  is  usually  clear.  Each  has  one  or  both 
of  the  two  great  ideas  of  the  prophet:  (i)  the  sin  of  the 
people  and  the  certainty  of  its  punishment;  (2)  the  strong 
love  of  God  which  cannot  let  them  go.  In  almost  every 
section  are  mingled  sharp  denunciation  and  tender  pleading. 

Part  I.  Chs.  i  to  3.  The  narrative  of  the  tragedy  of 
Hosea's  life,  and  (ch.  2)  its  parallel  in  the  relation  of  Israel 
to  God. 

Part  II.    Chs.  3  to  14.    Extracts  from  prophetic  sermons. 

1.  Chs.  4.  I  to  7.  7,  emphasis  on  the  moral  and  religious 
decay. 

2.  Chs.  7.  8  to  10.  15.  The  political  decay.  Both  domes- 
tic and  foreign  politics  are  such  as  can  bring  only  confusion 
and  final  destruction. 

3.  Ch.  II.  i-ii.  God's  unconquerable  love  which  must 
finally  win. 

4.  Chs.  II.  12  to  13.  16.  Another  plea  for  their  obedi- 
ence. If  the  persistent  goodness  of  Jehovah  is  continually 
flouted,  even  his  love  cannot  keep  the  people  from  the 
consequences  of  their  sin. 


38  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

5.  Ch.  14.  A  suggestion  of  how  the  antinomy  might 
be  solved  by  Ihe  repentance  and  return  of  Israel.  14.  9  is 
an  appropriate  epilogue,  perhaps  added  by  an  observing 
reader.  It  has  no  marks  of  Hosea's  passion,  but  emphasizes 
the  righteousness  of  Jehovah  in  all  his  acts. 

The  following  passages  are  of  special  interest: 

Ch.  5.  The  deep  sense  of  Jehovah's  wrong,  as  his  people  turn 
in  contempt  from  his  love.  Ch.  6.  1-3.  The  shallow  confidence  of 
the  people  that  all  will  come  out  well,  and  that  Jehovah's  anger  can- 
not be  serious.  6.  4-1 1.  The  helplessness  of  a  people  whose 
conception  of  righteousness  is  only  ritual  worship,  while  the  very 
priests  rob  pilgrims  bringing  sacrifice. 

Chs.  7.  8  to  8.  3.  Israel  is  corrupted  by  foreign  trade  and  alliance. 
As  a  result  the  nation  is  neither  one  thing  nor  the  other.  It  is  like 
a  cake  half  baked.  Israel  follows  foreign  gods  and  forgets  Jehovah, 
and  the  result  can  only  be  evil. 

Ch.  8.  4-14.  Home  politics  are  no  better,  in  these  days  of  rapid 
revolution,  than  foreign.  "They  set  up  kings,  but  not  by  me." 
Revolutions  will  lead  to  reverses. 

Ch.  9.    The  only  result  can  be  exile  and  disaster. 

Ch.  II.  i-ii  is  the  finest  and  most  characteristic  passage  in  the 
book.  Love  cannot  be  defeated.  If  that  is  true  of  man's  love,  how 
much  more  of  God's?  It  must  be  that  God  will  yet  win  in  the 
conflict  of  love  with  unfaithfulness. 

Ch.  14.  1-8  is  a  dialogue  between  an  ideal  repentant  Israel  and 
Jehovah,  with  his  ever-ready  forgiveness. 

In  reading  Hosea,  keep  in  mind  the  personal  history  of 
the  prophet,  which  formed  a  background  of  emotion  for 
every  utterance ;  his  patriotism,  that  made  every  denuncia- 
tion of  his  own  people  cut  him  to  the  heart ;  his  great  longing 
for  some  solution  of  the  seemingly  insoluble  puzzle,  how 
justice  and  love  could  both  be  satisfied.  See  how  rich  a 
variety  of  expression  these  feelings  find  in  the  extracts  from 
his  poetic  oratory. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Paraphrase  one  passage  from  the  list  of  passages  of  special 
interest  noted  above. 

2.  Make  a  full  statement  of  the  progress  of  thought  of  11.  i-li. 


HOSEA  39 

3.  Give  the  meaning  of  the  dialogue  in  ch.  14.  Why  does  it 
make  an  appropriate  close  for  the  book? 

4.  What  are  the  chief  ideas  about  God,  worship,  the  social  prob- 
lem, the  essence  of  religion?  Give  a  list  of  passages  showing  these 
ideas. 

5.  What  passages  in  Hosea  show  the  social  and  political  situa- 
tions? 

6.  Amos  holds  that  privilege  brings  responsibility;  Hosea,  that 
love  brings  duty.    Give  passages  in  Amos  and  Hosea  showing  this. 

7.  Compare  the  ideas  of  Amos  and  Hosea  on  the  points  in 
Question  4. 

8.  Compare  the  style  of  Amos  and  Hosea  as  to  clearness,  force, 
literary  beauty. 

9.  How  does  each  of  these  two  prophets  bring  out  the  great 
prophetic  idea — sin  brings  punishment?     Any  differences? 

10.  What  qualities  conduce  to  excellence  in  a  book  of  extracts 
from  the  utterances  of  one  man?  Does  Hosea  possess  these 
qualities? 

11.  Which  is  the  better  literature,  Amos  or  Hosea?     Why? 


CHAPTER  IV 

ISAIAH 

The  long  and  prosperous  reign  of  Jeroboam  II  in  North- 
ern Israel  was  paralleled  in  Judah  by  the  equally  long  and 
prosperous  reign  of  Uzziah  (or  Azariah)  (779-740  B.  C.) 
Uzziah  was,  like  Jeroboam,  a  wise  and  energetic  ruler.  He 
developed  the  country,  building  fortifications  and  waging 
successful  wars.  As  Israel,  freed  from  the  immediate  dan- 
ger of  Assyrian  invasion  by  the  weakness  of  the  kings  of 
Assyria,  had  expanded  to  the  north  and  east,  so  Judah  won 
Edom  and  the  other  lands  to  the  south,  as  far  as  Elath  on 
the  head  of  the  eastern  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea.  This  gave 
control  of  the  valuable  Red  Sea  trade  through  which 
Arabian,  African,  and  even  Indian  articles  passed  to  Damas- 
cus and  other  Syrian  marts.  As  in  Northern  Israel,  so  here 
tribute  and  commerce  brought  a  sudden  accession  of  wealth. 
Here  too  the  class  of  new  rich  became  luxurious  and  greedy, 
and  oppression  of  the  poor  and  the  loss  of  the  ancient  sense 
of  national  brotherhood  soon  followed.  A  fashion  for  great 
estates  arose,  and  the  poor  people,  turned  from  the  land, 
faced  starvation.  After  Uzziah's  death  Judah  happily 
escaped  the  revolutions  which  caused  the  downfall  of  North- 
ern Israel,  but  the  two  immediate  successors  of  Uzziah, 
Jotham  and  Ahaz,  were  not  his  equals  in  character  or  king- 
craft. His  third  successor,  Hezekiah,  was  an  able  ruler  and 
had  a  long  and  honored  reign.  Before  the  death  of  Uzziah, 
Tiglath  Pileser  IV  of  Assyria  had  begun  to  gather  up  the 
reins  of  authority  over  the  western  states  which  his  weaker 
predecessors  had  been  obliged  to  drop.  Judah  soon  lost 
her  dependent  provinces,  and  with  them  the  commerce  and 
tribute  which  brought  wealth.  Later  she  suffered  invasion 
from  Assyria,  with  its  consequent  devastation  and  heavy 

40 


ISAIAH  41 

tribute,  but  did  not,  like  Northern  Israel,  lose  her  national 
existence. 

The  greatest  man  in  Judah  during  this  period  was  the 
prophet  Isaiah.  His  work  began  in  the  year  that  Uzziah 
died,  740  (6.  i),  and  continued  through  forty  eventful  years, 
to  701.  Isaiah  was  a  member  of  the  upper  classes.  He 
was  a  resident  of  Jerusalem,  and  during  his  whole  long 
career  a  frequenter  of  the  court  and  a  friend  of  the  kings. 
He  began,  like  Amos,  as  a  prophet  of  social  reform,  but  his 
position  in  court  soon  made  his  primary  interest  political. 
After  his  earliest  period  all  the  records  of  his  prophetic  work 
which  have  been  preserved  to  us  concern  political  situations. 
He  had  that  insight  into  the  logical  outcome  of  political 
movements  which  constitutes  statesmanship.  The  political 
policy  he  constantly  urged  was  neutrality  in  the  strife  of 
neighboring  states.  He  protested  against  any  alliances 
whatever  with  Syria,  Assyria,  or  Egypt.  But  because  he 
was  a  statesman  he  was  not  less  a  prophet.  He  looked  at 
the  problems  of  the  nation  from  a  religious  point  of  view. 
He  felt  that  he  was  offering  not  mere  political  conclusions, 
but  messages  which  God  had  given  him  for  the  nation.  He 
held  that  dependence  on  the  help  of  either  Egypt  or  Assyria 
was  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah.  Since  the  popular  parties  of 
his  day  were  merely  superficial  and  timeserving,  Isaiah  usu- 
ally found  himself  in  disagreement  with  them  all.  At  times 
he  had  some  influence  with  the  court,  but  he  could  count  no 
brilliant  successes,  and  usually  his  advice  was  ignored,  some- 
times even  flouted ;  but  in  spite  of  all.  he  stood  out  as  the 
commanding  figure  in  Judah.  His  social  rank,  his  clear  in- 
sight, and  his  dominant  personality  compelled  respect.  Later 
ages  recognized  him  as  the  greatest  statesman  the  kingdom 
of  Judah  ever  produced. 

Isaiah  was  as  great  in  oratory  as  in  statesmanship.  He 
had  that  sublimity  of  imagination  which  English  literature 
presents  in  Milton.  He  turned  for  his  figures  not  to  the 
homely  and  commonplace  but  to  the  grand  and  sublime.     A 


42  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

certain  loftiness  of  thought  is  reflected  in  his  style.  His 
fancy  dwelt  upon  the  heights  of  life,  and  turned  naturally 
to  the  large  and  magnificent.  There  are  also  great  clearness, 
vigor,  and  compelling  force  in  his  incisive  words.  He 
furnishes  the  best  illustration  in  the  Bible  of  the  splendor 
of  a  majestic  style.  His  orations  are  for  the  most  part  in 
poetry.  Even  in  the  English  translation  the  poetic  move- 
ment is  not  entirely  lost,  for  it  lies  in  the  rhythm  of  thought 
quite  as  much  as  in  the  rhythm  of  words.  Yet  with  all  the 
sublimity  of  his  ideas  and  the  beauty  of  his  poetry,  he  was 
always  a  practical  man  of  afifairs. 

The  best  preparation  for  the  study  of  Isaiah  is  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  work  of  Amos  and  Hosea,  for  Isaiah 
is  their  logical  successor  in  social  and  religious  teaching. 
Their  social  ideals,  their  insistence  upon  morality  as  superior 
to  ritual,  upon  the  exclusive  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  the 
certainty  of  punishment  of  sin,  are  taken  up  by  Isaiah. 

The  book  of  Isaiah  is  a  collection  of  prophetic  addresses 
and  poems,  with  some  narratives.  Much  of  the  collection 
is  not  from  Isaiah.  In  the  Isaian  parts  also  there  are  cer- 
tainly some  interpolations,  possibly  many.  Few  books  in 
the  Bible  have  a  more  complicated  origin  and  structure  than 
this  book.  The  book  is  divided  into  two  main  parts,  chs.  i 
to  39  and  40  to  66.  The  last  is  usually  called  Second  Isaiah, 
and  will  be  treated  in  a  later  chapter. 

Isaiah  i  to  39,  often  called  the  First  Isaiah,  may  be  divided 
as  follows: 

A.  I.  Introduction.  A  sermon  embodying  many  of 
Isaiah's  characteristic  ideas. 

B.  Ch.  2.  I  to  II.  9.  Moral  and  political  sermons. 
(Isaiah's,  with  interpolations.) 

C.  Chs.  II.  10  to  14.  23.  First  appendix.    (Not  Isaiah's.) 

D.  Chs.  14.  24  to  2^.  18.  Oracles  concerning  the  nations. 
(Some  of  these  are  Isaiah's.) 

E.  Chs.  24  to  27,    Second  appendix.     (Not  Isaiah's.) 


ISAIAH  43 

F.  Chs.  28  to  32.  Political  sermons.  (Isaiah's,  with  a 
few  interpolations.) 

G.  Chs.  ;^s  to  35.    Third  appendix.     (Not  Isaiah's.) 

H.  Chs.  36  to  39.  Historical  conclusion.  (Stories  about 
Isaiah,  mostly  from  2  Kings.) 

The  book  grew  slowly,  combined  from  several  collections 
of  Isaiah's  utterances  (see  B.  D.  F.  above),  each  with  its 
appendix  of  other  prophetic  fragments  (C.  E.  G.),  to  which 
ch.  I  was  later  prefixed.  Notice  how  small  a  portion  of  the 
sections  of  the  book  contain  the  work  of  Isaiah.  The 
divisions  of  the  book  do  not  indicate  the  chronological  order 
of  Isaiah's  work,  except  that  Isaiah's  earlier  prophecies  are 
included  in  B. 

Isaiah's  work  may  be  divided  into  four  periods  of  about 
ten  years  each:  740-732,  732-722,  722-711,  711-701.  From 
the  first  five  years,  740  to  735,  there  is  a  body  of  social 
sermons.  This  division  corresponds  to  events  in  the  political 
world,  each  decade  ending  with  a  revolt  of  some  of  the  west- 
ern states  against  Assyria,  which  was  always  put  down  by 
Assyrian  invasion. 

732.  Syria  and  Northern  Israel  had  attempted  to  revolt.  Damas- 
cus the  capital  of  Syria  was  captured. 

722.     Northern  Israel  revolted.    Assyria  took  Samaria,  its  capital. 

711.  A  combination  of  Philistine  cities  revolted.  Assyria  took 
Ashdod,  the  leading  city   in  the  plot. 

701.  Phoenicia,  Philistia,  and  Judah  revolted.  Assyria  took  many 
of  their  cities  and  besieged  Jerusalem. 

Note  that  the  restlessness  of  the  western  states  under  the  heavy 
demands  of  the  Assyrian  government  furnishes  the  background  of 
this  history. 

I.     The  First  Period,  740-732. 

I.  The  Social  Prophecies.  These  consist  of  a  narrative 
and  two  sermons.  Chapter  6  is  the  story  of  Isaiah's  call. 
Observe  (i)  the  content;  (2)  the  ideas  expressed:  the  holi- 
ness of  God,  and  the  humility  of  man;  (3)  the  message: 
"Say  to  the  people,  go  on  hearing,  but  understand  not." 


44  THE   BIBLE  AS    LITERATURE 

How  long  must  he  speak  this  disheartening  message?  Till 
the  destruction  of  the  land  is  complete  (13b  is  not  original)  ; 
(4)  The  style ;  its  subHmity,  compactness,  and  clearness.  It 
furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  characteristics  of 
Isaiah's  style.  (5)  The  main  thought  about  himself,  a 
divine  compulsion  for  a  hopeless  task.  Could  this  passage 
represent  the  expectation  of  the  young  man  at  the  beginning 
of  his  labor,  or  is  it  his  estimate  of  his  work  after  years  of 
seeming  failure? 

Chapters  2  to  4.  Selfish  wealth  and  its  outcome.  Chapter  2. 
2-4  is  not  Isaiah's  (compare  Mic  4.  1-5)  nor  probably  4.  2-6, 
which  is  in  the  style  of  a  later  time.  The  rest  of  the  passage 
is  a  grim  picture  of  present  social  corruptions  and  the  inevi- 
table results  in  disunion  and  anarchy. 

Chapters  5.  1-24;  9.  8  to  10.  4;  5.  25-30.  A  parable 
and  its  meaning.  Chapters  9.  8  to  10,  4  is  seen  to  belong 
with  5.  26-30  because  of  its  subject  and  refrain.  The  song 
in  5.  I,  2  was  perhaps  used  by  the  young  prophet  to 
gain  a  hearing  for  himself  in  addressing  some  crowd  in  the 
open  spaces  of  Jerusalem.     It  may  be  a  popular  folksong. 

Chapter  5.  3-7,  is  the  application  of  the  song-parable. 
Chapter  5.  8-24  describes  the  social  situation  (compare  chs. 
2,  3).  Chapters  9.  8  to  10.  4;  5.  25-30  is  a  list  of  punish- 
ments, past  and  to  come.  Note  the  climactic  end,  express- 
ing Judah's  terror  of  the  nation  from  afar — what  nation? 
Note  the  characteristics  of  Isaiah's  style,  and  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  final  passage.  How  must  the  wealthy  leaders 
of  his  own  social  class  have  regarded  this  young  aristocrat 
pouring  out  these  hot  invectives  against  them?  We  have 
no  means  of  knowing  the  results  of  the  social  work  of  this 
young  reformer,  but  he  evidently  regarded  it  as  without 
success  (6.  9,  10). 

2,  The  Political  Prophecies.  About  736  a  movement 
arose  among  the  states  north  of  Judah  to  free  themselves 
from  the  Assyrian  yoke.  North  Israel  and  Syria  were  the 
leaders  in  it,  and  they  threatened  to  invade  Judah  if  it 


ISAIAH  45 

refused  to  join  them.  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  was  a  weakling, 
and  he  and  his  people  were  panic-stricken.  If  they  entered 
the  plot,  they  were  afraid  of  Assyria ;  if  they  did  not,  they 
were  afraid  of  Israel  and  Syria.  This  is  the  background  of 
ch.  7.  Isaiah  went  out  to  meet  Ahaz,  who  was  looking  after 
the  water  supply  of  the  city  in  preparation  for  the  expected 
siege,  and  tried  to  encourage  him.  His  ground  of  encour- 
agement is  in  7.  1-9.  (Verse  8b  is  not  original.  The  en- 
couragement needed  is  speedy,  not  sixty-five  years  distant.) 
He  offered  Ahaz  a  sign  that  Jehovah  would  protect  him, 
but  Ahaz  declined  to  accept  it.  The  reason  was  that  already 
he  had  appealed  to  Assyria  for  help.  "Yes,"  said  Isaiah, 
"Assyria  will  help  you,  but  that  very  help  will  desolate  the 
land."  Judah  must  pay  for  aid  with  heavy  tribute,  and 
invasion  and  poverty  are  brought  one  step  nearer  (7.  10-25). 
Notice  the  figures  by  which  he  appeals  to  the  imagination. 
This  disaster  will  come  speedily,  before  a  child  born  soon 
is  able  to  know  right  from  wrong.  (Verses  14-17.  "Virgin" 
is  a  wrong  translation.  The  word  means  simply  "a  young 
woman.")  This  was  his  message  to  the  king.  To  the 
people  he  appealed  in  two  curious  signs,  designed  to  create 
public  talk,  and  both  meaning  the  same  as  the  Immanuel 
sign  (8.  1-4).  They  need  not  fear.  These  northern  nations 
cannot  meet  Assyria  on  equal  terms.  Judah  may  remain 
neutral,  neither  joining  the  plot  nor  appealing  to  Assyria 
for  help.  Be  calm,  trust  Jehovah,  and  await  the  issue  of 
events.  8.  5  to  9.  i  is  a  series  of  fragments,  mostly  from 
this  period.  Notice  references  to  the  plot  and  to  Judah's 
terror.  The  chapters  strike  the  key  of  Isaiah's  lifelong 
politico-religious  position,  which  counseled  neutrality  be- 
tween warring  nations  and  trust  in  the  protection  of  the 
national  God.  Was  the  neutrality  a  sign  of  cowardice,  or 
was  it  the  only  safe  course  for  a  small  nation  in  such  cir- 
cumstances ? 

11.     The  Second  Period,  732-722.     The  outcome  of  the 
revolt  of  Israel  and  Syria  was  what  might  have  been  ex- 


46  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

pected.  Assyria  sent  her  armies  into  the  west,  overran 
Israel  and  deported  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gilead,  Naph- 
taH,  and  the  region  of  Galilee,  seated  Hoshea  on  the  throne 
of  Israel,  took  Damascus  and  put  an  end  to  the  kingdom 
of  Syria.  The  revolting  kings  of  both  countries  lost  their 
lives  and  heavy  tribute  was  laid  upon  Israel.  Judah  also 
suffered.  By  appealing  to  Assyria,  Judah  had  opened  the 
door  to  a  demand  for  heavier  tribute.  For  a  few  years  the 
western  lands  paid  their  taxes ;  then  the  constant  drain  of 
wealth  which  could  ill  be  spared  tempted  to  another  revolt. 
During  this  time  Egypt  was  a  factor  in  the  situation.  It 
was  plain  that  the  civilized  world  was  too  small  for  two 
powers  of  the  first  rank.  Either  Egypt  or  Assyria  must 
succumb.  It  was  the  policy  of  Egypt  to  foment  rebellion 
among  the  vassal  states  of  Assyria,  and  to  keep  her  armies 
occupied  so  that  Egypt  might  not  be  invaded.  Egypt  always 
promised  the  smaller  states  help,  but  seldom  sent  it.  She 
was  indifferent  as  to  what  became  of  the  little  states  through 
whom  she  played  her  selfish  game.  The  Palestinian  coun- 
tries were  of  especial  importance  to  Egypt,  for  they  consti- 
tuted buffer  states  between  herself  and  Assyria.  She  was 
jealous  lest  they  should  come  into  too  close  relations  with 
Assyria,  and  continually  fomented  dissatisfaction.  So,  after 
a  few  years,  Hoshea,  although  the  creature  of  Assyria,  was 
urged  into  rebellion.  The  result  was  the  capture  of  Samaria 
in  722,  the  death  of  Hoshea,  and  the  end  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel.  Assyria  was  tired  of  setting  up  native  kings  only 
to  have  them  rebel.  Would  modern  empires  take  the  same 
course  ? 

Whether  Judah  was  implicated  in  this  revolt  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say.  Doubtless  she  was  urged  to  enter  it,  and 
doubtless  Isaiah's  influence  was  thrown  toward  neutrality. 
Only  one  passage  in  Isaiah  can  be  assigned  with  any  cer- 
tainty to  this  period — 28.  1-22  in  whole  or  in  part.  Chapter 
28.  1-4  is  a  denunciation  of  Israel.  Note  the  splendid 
rhetoric,  the  reason  for  denunciation,  the  threatened  doom 


ISAIAH  47 

(vv.  5,  6,  later  interpolation  of  hope)  ;  7-22  is  a  like  denunci- 
ation of  the  rulers  of  Judah.  In  9,  10  the  drunken  priests  and 
prophets  deride  Isaiah.  "Does  he  think  we  are  babies,  to 
come  to  us  with  his  gibberish?"  (Verse  10  is  designed  to 
be  meaningless  gabble.)  11-14  is  Isaiah's  answer:  "J^^iovah 
will  talk  gibberish  to  you  through  Assyria." 

III.  The  Third  Period,  y22-'jii.  After  the  crushing 
Assyrian  invasion  the  Babylonian  and  Palestinian  states  lay 
quiet  for  a  few  years.  But  before  long  Egypt  again  began 
her  insidious  scheming,  and  another  fatuous  revolt  arose. 
This  time  the  Philistine  city,  Ashdod,  was  the  head  of  the 
confederation.  Again  the  Assyrian  army  came  west,  and 
Ashdod  was  taken  in  711.  How  far  Judah  was  involved 
is  uncertain,  but  that  politicians  were  trying  to  draw  her  into 
the  plot  is  evident  from  the  one  passage  in  Isaiah  which 
comes  from  this  period,  ch.  20,  which  records  Isaiah's 
protest.  It  tells  of  a  symbolic  act  which  must  have  started 
tongues  wagging  in  Jerusalem,  when  this  courtier  and 
aristocrat  appeared  on  the  streets  for  a  considerable  time — 
3  years  (  ?) — barefoot  and  lightly  clad  in  garb  suggesting 
a  captive.  See  how  he  makes  this  act  a  text  for  a  political 
plea. 

IV.  The  Fourth  Period,  711-701.  Once  again  for  some 
years  Palestine  lay  prostrate  under  Assyrian  defeat.  Then 
again  shortsighted  patriotism,  fed  by  the  flatteries  of  Egypt, 
was  misled  into  a  fooUsli  hope  of  freedom.  The  kings  of 
Egypt  promised  aid.  From  the  far  east  an  adventurer, 
Merodach  Baladan,  who  was  trying  to  establish  himself  on 
the  throne  of  Babylon,  sent  an  embassy  to  Judah,  doubtless 
to  urge  on  the  revolt.  Plezekiah  showed  the  resources 
available  for  war,  only  to  be  rebuked  later  by  Isaiah,  as 
told  in  Isa  39.  The  threat  of  exile  to  Babylon,  not  Nineveh, 
is  perhaps  a  modification  in  the  hght  of  later  history.  (Some 
hold  that  this  chapter  belongs  in  the  previous  period,  c.  714.) 
In  the  west  there  were  three  centers  of  revolt :  Phoenicia, 
Philistia,  and  Judah.     In  spite  of  Isaiah's  protest,  Judah  at 


48  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

last  entered  the  plot  and  even  became  the  jailer  of  the  king 
of  Ekron,  who,  like  Ahaz  forty  years  before,  refused  to 
join  and  was  dethroned  for  his  loyalty  to  Assyria.  Then  the 
usual  thing  happened.  The  Assyrian  army  hastened  west, 
attacked  the  conspirators  before  they  could  join  forces,  cap- 
tured first  the  Phoenician  cities,  then  those  of  Philistia,  and 
at  last  overran  the  Judsean  hills  and  besieged  Jerusalem. 

From  this  period  we  have  two  sets  of  Isaiah's  sermons. 
The  first  set  seem  to  have  been  spoken  while  the  plot  was 
brewing  and  a  confident  bravado  prevailed  in  Judah.  Chap- 
ters 29  to  2,2  give,  with  some  interpolations,  Isaiah's  warn- 
ings not  to  enter  the  revolt.  He  begins  with  an  announce- 
ment to  Jerusalem,  under  a  punning  name  "lion,"  or 
"altar-hearth,"  that  within  a  year  siege  and  disaster  will 
come  (29.  22-24,  later).  Chapters  30  and  31  show  that 
Judah  has  already  sent  to  Egypt  for  help,  but  it  will  be  in 
vain  (30.  19-26,  perhaps  later?).  Chapter  32  (in  part  later) 
threatens  destruction  to  the  land.  Notice  (i)  the  social 
touches.  Isaiah  is  still  interested  in  social  righteousness; 
(2)  the  pungent  satire  against  Egypt;  (3)  the  alarmist 
elements.  Isaiah  is  determined  to  call  attention  to  the 
danger  in  which  the  country  is  placing  itself. 

This  protest  of  Isaiah  was  fruitless.  The  court  was  too 
deeply  involved  to  withdraw.  The  Assyrian  army  besieged 
Lachish,  southwest  of  Jerusalem.  The  confidence  of  the 
people  vanished.  Hezekiah  the  king  made  humble  submis- 
sion and  paid  heavily  for  his  rebellion.  Still  Assyria  was 
not  satisfied.  A  detachment  of  the  army  was  sent  to  Jeru- 
salem to  demand  that  the  city  be  surrendered.  The  people 
became  panic-stricken.  There  was  danger  that  they  would 
yield  for  very  terror.  Isaiah  pleaded  with  them  not  to  give 
up  the  city ;  he  was  confident  that  Jehovah  could  not  allow 
his  shrine  to  be  ravaged.  His  confidence  was  rewarded. 
Although  the  city  was  besieged,  the  enemy  retired  without 
taking  it. 

While  these  events  were  going  on,  Isaiah  was  trying  to 


ISAIAH  49 

instill  some  courage  into  the  terrified  people.  They  had 
flouted  his  advice,  but  the  old  patriot  would  not  let  them  fail 
if  he  could  prevent  it.  lo.  5-24  is  one  of  the  most  splendid 
pieces  of  oratory  in  Isaiah's  writing.  Notice  the  boasting 
put  in  the  mouth  of  Assyria,  and  Isaiah's  conception  of  the 
reason  why  Jehovah  has  given  them  this  power ;  then  the 
fate  which  will  befall  them  (16-19).  Judah  also  will  suffer, 
but  a  remnant  will  be  saved,  while  Assyria  will  fall  (20- 
32)  ;  10.  28-32  is  a  poetic  description  of  an  ideal  march  of 
the  Assyrian  army  over  an  impassable  route  to  the  very 
gates  of  Jerusalem ;  but  there  Jehovah  turns  them  back. 
"Assyria  is  strong,  but  do  not  fear.  Jehovah  will  protect 
you."  Read  also  14.  24-27;  17.  12-14,  seemingly  fragments 
from  the  same  period. 

Hebrew  story  gives  us  two  traditions,  which  the  editor 
of  Kings  wove  into  one,  and  the  editor  of  the  book  of  Isaiah 
copied,  chs.  36  and  37.  See  the  two  reasons  for  the  Assyrian 
withdrawal:  (i)  rumor  of  trouble  at  home,  and  (2)  a 
pestilence.  Herodotus  also  tells  of  the  campaign,  and 
implies  that  the  plague  attacked  a  division  of  the  army  on 
the  way  to  Egypt.  Whatever  the  cause,  the  army  withdrew 
from  Jerusalem.  Isaiah  felt  that  his  confidence  in  God  was 
justified. 

Isaiah's  long  career  closed  with  only  one  definite  triumph. 
He  had  not  been  able  to  keep  Judah  out  of  this  disastrous 
revolt,  but  he  had  at  least  saved  Jerusalem  from  massacre 
and  spoil.  Is  it  any  wonder,  as  he  looked  back  over  his  life, 
that  he  summed  it  up  as  a  work  in  which  God  had  sent  him 
forth  to  fail?     (6.  9-12.) 

It  was  a  skillful  editor  who  placed  ch.  i  at  the  head  of 
the  collection  of  Isaian  prophecies.  Note  how  it  sums  up 
in  vigorous  poetry  the  main  ideas  of  Isaiah  about  Jehovah, 
his  worship,  his  attitude  toward  the  people,  their  attitude 
toward  his  ethical  demands,  the  punishment  of  sin  and  "the 
remnant  saved."    The  date  is  not  easy  to  fix.    See  the  condi- 


50  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

tion  indicated  in  vv.  6  to  8.    This  might  be  in  735,  ^22,  711 
or  701. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

/.     First  Period 

1.  Compare  social  conditions  in  Isa  2,  3  and  5  with  those  of  North 

Israel  shown  in  Amos.    Compare  3.  16  to  4.  i  with  Amos  4.  1-3. 

2.  What  are  the  main  ideas  about  (a)  God,  (b)  the  social  condition, 

(c)  the  future,  in  the  group  of  social  sermons   (2  to  5,  with 
9,  8  to  10.  4)  ? 

3.  What  characteristics  of  style  in  ch.  6?     In  the  social  sermons? 

4.  Paraphrase  2.  5-22;  or  5.  1-24;  or  7.  3-25.    What  is  the  meaning 

of   "Immanuel,"  in  7.   14? 

5.  Compare  Isaiah's  policy  of  neutrality  with  that  of  the  present 

small  states  of  Europe — Switzerland,  Belgium,  Holland. 

6.  Divide  ch.  8  into  paragraphs,  and  give  the  main  ideas  of  each 

paragraph. 

//.     Second  Period 

1.  Paraphrase  28.  1-22. 

2.  Compare  Isaiah's  charge  against  Israel   (28.   1-8)   with  those  of 

Amos  and  Hosea. 

3.  If  28.  1-22  is  a  unity,  what  inference  does  Isaiah  wish  to  draw 

from  the  events  in  Israel  to  the  prospects  in  Judah? 

4.  Did  Isaiah  give  28.  1-4  for  the  sake  of  Israel  or  Judah? 

5.  What   is   the   meaning   and   the    application    of    the   parable    in 

ch.  28.  23-29? 

///.     Third  Per  id 

1.  Chapter  20.     Consider  the  value  of  symbolic  action  to  attract 

popular  attention.     Compare  the  action  in  8.  1-4. 

2.  What  were  the  relations  of  Assyria  and  Egypt  in  Palestine  in 

times  earlier  than  Isaiah? 

IV.     Fourth  Period 

1.  The    adventures    of    Merodach    Baladan,    and    the    relation    of 

Assyria  and  Babylonia  through  this  general  period? 

2.  Paraphrase  either  ch.  29;  ch.  30.  1-18;  ch.  31  ;  or  ch.  10.  5-27. 

3.  Compare  the  social  references  in  chs.  29  to  2)2  with  those  in  chs.  2, 

3,  5,  28. 

4.  What  use  of  sarcasm  in  chs.  29  to  32? 

5.  List  the  subjects  considered  by  Isaiah  in  chs.  29  to  32  (omit  later 

passages).    What  was  Isaiah's  object  in  these  chapters? 


ISAIAH  51 

6.  Elements  of  persuasive  oratory  in  chs.  10;  14.  24-27;  17.   10-14? 

7.  State  the  progress  of  the  argument  in  ch.   10. 

F.     General  Topics 

1.  Compare  the  style  of  Amos  and  Isaiah ;  of  Hosea  and  Isaiah. 

Specify  passages  on  which  you  base  your  answer. 

2.  What  are  the  best  oratorical  passages?     The  best  poetry? 

3.  What  passages  use  irony,  sarcasm,  or  mimicry  of  others? 

4.  What  was  Isaiah's  political  policy?     Was  it  a  wise  policy? 

5.  What  seems  to  you   Isaiah's  greatest  quality? 

6.  Are  Isaiah's  sermons  emotional  or  intellectual  literature? 

7.  What  were  his  positions  as  to  (a)  God,  (b)  worship,  (r)  rela- 

tion of  morals  to  religion,   (d)   relation  of  sin  and  suffering, 
(e)   the  future  of  Israel? 

8.  What  were  his  greatest  religious  ideas? 
g.     Did  Isaiah  succeed  or  fail? 

10.  Study  the  Assyrian  records  of  Isaiah's  time,  especially  Sen- 
nacherib's account  of  his  campaign.  (See  Rogers's  Cuneiform 
Parallels  to  the  Old  Testament.) 


CHAPTER  V 
MIC  AH 

The  last  of  the  group  of  social  prophets  is  Micah.  He 
was  contemporary  with  Isaiah.  Chapter  I  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  beginning  of  his  work  was  about  the  time  of  the 
fall  of  Samaria,  722,  so  he  is  usually  considered  to  be 
younger  than  Isaiah,  whose  work  began  nearly  twenty  years 
earlier.  Micah  is  the  rural  counterpart  of  the  courtier, 
Isaiah.  His  home  was  in  Moresheth  of  Oath,  a  village  of  the 
western  foothills,  twenty-seven  miles  southwest  from  Jeru- 
salem. It  is  a  rich  farming  country,  but,  so  far  as  we  know, 
the  writings  of  Micah  were  the  only  literary  product  of  the 
region.  The  rural  origin  of  the  prophet  influences  his  work 
in  two  directions :  ( 1 )  He  was  concerned  entirely  with  the 
social  and  moral  question.  His  position  in  life  shut  him  out 
from  the  political  activity  of  Isaiah.  (2)  He  was  a 
peasant,  and  approached  the  problem  of  the  oppression  of 
the  poor  by  the  rich  from  an  entirely  different  point  of 
view  from  Isaiah.  There  is  naturally  a  more  savage  viru- 
lence, more  heat  and  bitterness  in  his  attack  on  the  oppres- 
sive rich.  The  difference  between  the  treatment  of  the 
problem  by  the  aristocrat  of  Jerusalem  and  the  peasant  of 
an  outlying  village  is  that  often  seen  at  present  between 
the  "parlor  socialist"  and  the  laborer  in  their  treatments 
of  the  problem  of  wealth. 

The  social  situation  which  Micah  met  was  the  same  which 
we  find  in  Northern  Israel  in  the  time  of  Amos,  and  in  Judah 
at  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  Isaiah.  When  the  sources 
of  wealth  were  diminished  by  the  loss  of  tributary  states, 
the  rich  seem  to  have  been  even  more  grasping  and  un- 
scrupulous than  before  in  their  dealings  with  the  helpless 
lower  classes  of  their  own  nation.    Micah  uses  phraseology 

52 


MICAH  53 

still  in  vogue  in  the  east  when  he  says  that  the  rich  ate 
the  poor.  Still  more  familiar  are  his  terms  as  he  tells  how 
the  ruling  classes  skinned  them  (3.  3).  The  literature  of 
social  controversy  presents  few  passages  more  vitriolic  than 
]\Iicah's  denunciation  of  the  rich  of  his  day. 

The  book  of  Micah  divides  into  three  sections:  (I)  chs. 
I  to  3 ;  (II)  chs.  4  and  5;  (III)  chs.  6  and  7. 

Section  I.  Chapters  i  to  3,  the  work  of  Micah  with  a 
few  interpolations.  An  interesting  episode  in  Jeremiah's 
life  (ch.  26.  18)  quotes  Mic  3.  12.  Notice  the  theme  of 
ch.  I,  punishment  for  the  social  wrongs  which  proceed  from 
the  two  capitals,  Samaria  and  Jerusalem.  In  i.  10-15  the 
prophet  puns  on  the  names  of  the  towns  in  his  district  of 
Judah ;  Gath  is  equivalent  to  "Tell" ;  Beth-el-ophrah, 
"House  of  dust" ;  Shaphir,  "Beauty,"  etc.  He  saw  in  vision 
the  Assyrian  army  pouring  over  the  fair  countryside  in  a 
devastating  wave,  as  a  result  of  the  crimes  of  the  great 
cities.  2.  i-ii  is  a  direct  attack  upon  the  rich,  who  try  to 
stop  his  unwelcome  prophecy.  God  will  not  let  him  stop. 
They  would  like  a  man  to  prophesy  of  wealth  and  luxury 
(vv.  12,  13,  an  interpolated  promise  of  restoration  from 
exile;  an  exilic  fragment).  Chapter  3.  1-12  continues  the 
attack  on  the  rich.  They  are  oppressive  and  unjust,  and 
yet  they  think  they  worship  God ! 

Section  II.  Whether  any  part  of  chs.  4  and  5  comes  from 
Micah  is  disputed.  If  it  does,  the  time  of  writing  must  be 
later  than  that  of  chs.  i  to  3.  It  is  a  mass  of  fragments, 
of  varied  authorship  and  date.  Chapter  4.  1-5  (compare 
Isa  2.  2-4)  gives  beautiful  ideals  of  peace.  Chapters  4.  6  to 
5.  15  promises  deliverance  of  Judah  by  a  righteous  ruler, 
who  comes  not  from  the  luxurious  capital  but  from  the 
country  town,  Bethlehem,  (References  to  Babylon,  4.  10, 
must  be  later.) 

Section  III.  Chapters  6  and  7  present  Jehovah's  con- 
troversy with  Judah  and  his  demand  for  righteousness. 
Chapter  7.    1-6  contains  the  prophet's  sorrowful  plaint  of 


54  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

the  evil  time.  This  section  is  often  assigned  to  the  reign 
of  Manasseh,  after  the  death  of  Hezekiah,  when  the  anti- 
prophetic  party  gained  control.  It  may  be  Micah's,  but  the 
style  would  indicate  a  different  author.  Chapter  6.  6-8  is 
the  finest  summary  of  prophetic  teaching  about  religion  in 
all  prophecy.  What  is  its  definition  of  religion?  (In 
7.  7-20  a  beautiful  expression  of  trust  in  God,  a  prayer  to 
the  Good  Shepherd,  and  a  word  of  quiet  confidence  close 
the  book.  The  passage  is  a  collection  of  fragments,  some 
from  the  exile,  added  to  give  a  propitious  close  to  a  book 
of  threatening.     Compare  the  close  of  Amos.) 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  How  can  ch.  i  be  used  to  date  IMicah? 

2.  The    details    of    the    charge    against    (a)    the    rich,     (b)    the 

prophets,  in  chs.    i   to  3. 

3.  Compare  chs.   i  to  3  with  Amos   for   (a)   the  social  situation, 

(b)   the  threats,    (c)    style  of  writing. 

4.  4.  1-4  and  Isa  2.  2-4.     Can  either  be  borrowed  from  the  other? 

5.  Paraphrase  2.   i-ii;  chapter  3;  6.   1-8. 

6.  Why  cannot  2.   12,  13  and  7.  7-20  be  from  Micah?    Note  the 

historic  background  and  the  idea  of  the  passages. 

7.  Compare  Micah  for  vigor,  strength,  and  literary  skill  with  the 

social  sermons  of  Isaiah. 

8.  What  does  Jer  26.   16-19  show  as  to  the  permanent  influence 

of  Micah? 

9.  Make   a   review   of   the   group   of    social   prophets;    the   social 

problem  they  met ;  the  reason  for  its  rise ;  the  result  in 
national  disaster ;  the  logical  reason  for  that  result ;  the 
religious  element  in  their  work;  their  solution  for  the  social 
problem. 
10.  What  elements  of  likeness  and  of  difference  in  their  problem 
of   wealth  and  poverty  and  ours? 


CHAPTER  VI 

ZEPHANIAH,   NAHUM,  AND  HABBAKUK 

After  Isaiah  and  Micah  there  was  a  period  of  about 
seventy-five  years  from  which  no  prophetic  name  comes  to 
us.  This  absohite  silence  after  such  a  brilliant  outburst  of 
prophetic  activity  is  most  unnatural.  It  finds  its  explana- 
tion in  the  historical  situation.  Neither  the  people  at  large 
nor  the  court  party  had  ever  really  supported  the  prophetic 
movement.  There  had  always  been  a  popular  demand  that 
the  old  national  baals  and  newly  imported  foreign  gods  be 
allowed  to  share  the  worship  of  the  people  with  Jehovah. 
The  prophets,  on  the  other  hand,  demanded  the  exclusive 
worship  of  Jehovah.  Hezekiah,  under  the  influence  of  the 
prophets,  destroyed  a  brazen  serpent,  an  ancient  and  vener- 
ated religious  symbol  (2  Kings  18.  4),  and  instituted  other 
innovations.  It  is  not  surprising  that  opposition  arose. 
Upon  the  death  of  Hezekiah  the  conservative  anti-prophetic 
party  secured  possession  of  the  young  king,  Manasseh,  a 
boy  of  twelve  years  of  age.  Then  arose  an  attempt  to  put 
down  the  prophetic  party  by  violence.  Never  before  in 
Judah  had  there  been  active  persecution  of  the  devotees  of 
the  national  God,  but  Manasseh  did  not  hesitate  to  shed  the 
blood  of  the  champions  of  his  own  ancestral  religion.  Public 
ministry  became  impossible  for  the  prophets,  and  so  con- 
tinued during  the  long  reign — fifty-five  years — (698-643) 
of  Manasseh,  and  the  two  years'  rule  of  his  son.  Anion. 
When  Amon  was  killed  in  one  of  those  palace  conspiracies 
which  have  played  so  tragic  a  role  in  Eastern  courts,  the 
prophetic  party  gained  ascendency.  The  boy  king,  Josiah, 
only  eight  years  old,  was  under  their  control,  and,  like 
Manasseh,  followed  in  the  paths  of  his  youthful  training 
when  he  became  a  man.    Vehement  opposition  to  prophetic 

55 


56  THE    rJBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

teaching'  was  by  no  means  over,  but  prophecy  was  possible, 
and,  as  long  as  Josiah  lived,  had  the  favor  of  the  court. 
The  group  of  prophets  who  now  arose  differ  in  personality, 
in  style,  and  somewhat  in  subject  from  the  earlier  prophets. 
On  the  whole,  they  are  less  brilliant,  and  offer  fewer 
masterpieces  of  literature. 

Zephaniah 

Zephaniah  was  probably  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  a 
descendant  of  King  Hezekiah  (see  i.  i).  lie  probably 
belonged  to  the  group  of  reformers  which  included  the 
youthful  king  and  a  young  man,  Jeremiah,  who  became  a 
greater  influence  than  either  of  the  others. 

The  date  of  Zephaniah  is  not  clearly  indicated.  In  i.  15- 
18  he  threatens  an  invasion.  In  the  days  of  Josiah  the 
terror  of  the  Assyrians  had  almost  passed  away,  and  he 
could  hardly  have  referred  to  them.  About  628  a  new 
nation  appeared  on  the  horizon.  A  group  of  Scythian 
tribes  poured  over  the  mountains  from  the  region  of  the 
Caspian  upon  the  ]\Iesopotamian  plain,  and  came  southwest 
into  Palestine.  This  was  a  folk-migration,  moving  with 
families  and  flocks  in  search  of  new  homes,  and  it  struck 
terror  into  the  minds  of  the  people.  The  Scythians  did  not 
penetrate  the  hills  of  Judah,  but  it  was  natural  for  the 
prophets  to  take  occasion  of  the  popular  fear  to  urge  reform. 
The  reference  of  Zephaniah  in  i.  15-18  may  be  to  this 
movement,  which  would  fix  the  date  at  about  626. 

The  general  theme  of  Zephaniah  is  the  "day  of  Jehovah," 
when  God  shall  judge  the  people.  On  the  basis  of  this 
threat  he  urges  reform.  The  original  book  falls  into  three 
parts:  (i)  Judgment  upon  Israel  (ch.  i)  ;  (2)  judgment 
upon  other  nations  as  well  (ch.  2)  ;  (3)  hope  of  a  purified 
remnant  of  Israel  (ch.  3.  1-13).  (3.  14-20  is  a  beautiful 
lyric  of  trust,  dating,  at  least  in  part,  from  the  exilic  time. 
Compare  the  end  of  Amos  and  of  JNlicah.) 

Zephaniah  gives  us  the  common  prophetic  idea  that  sin 


ZEPHANIAH,  NAHUM,  AND  HABAKKUK  57 

brings  punishment,  and  that  God  will  at  last  save  Israel, 
after  the  fires  of  purification.  His  peculiar  development 
is  the  vivid  presentation  of  the  "day  of  Jehovah,"  and  the 
inclusion  of  other  nations  as  well  as  Judah  in  the  discipline 
of  God. 

Nahum 

Nahum  is  concerned  with  a  single  theme — the  fall  of 
Nineveh,  which  was  the  capital  of  Assyria.  The  poem  is  a 
cry  of  exultation  over  the  prospect  of  the  destruction  of 
the  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  Assyrian  empire.  The  terror 
and  hatred  of  Assyria  may  be  plainly  seen  in  the  oratory 
of  Isaiah,  a  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Nahum.  The 
smaller  western  states  were  powerless  before  her.  For 
over  a  century  she  had  ruled  the  states  of  Western  Asia, 
draining  their  wealth  in  tribute  and  quenching  all  revolt 
in  bloodshed  and  plunder.  The  very  wars  which  insured 
her  supremacy  gradually  weakened  her  by  draining  her 
best  blood,  until,  like  Rome  in  her  last  days,  she  stood  a 
tottering  giant,  ready  to  fall  before  any  strong  attack.  No 
Assyrian  king  was  more  brutal  in  his  treatment  of  depen- 
dents than  Assurbanipal  (668-626).  After  his  death  two 
feeble  kings  followed,  and  the  empire  rapidly  sank  to  its 
fall  in  606.  It  is  no  wonder  that,  when  its  weakness  became 
evident,  poets  in  its  tributary  states  should  have  exulted 
over  its  impending  fall. 

The  limits  of  the  date  of  Nahum  are  666,  when  Thebes 
(No-Amon)  in  Egypt  was  taken  by  Assyria,  and  606,  when 
Nineveh  fell.  It  probably  comes  from  the  latter  part  of  this 
period,  when  attacks  upon  Nineveh  had  shown  its  weakness, 
between  624-606.  The  book  is  a  poem,  not  an  oration.  It 
contains  a  marvelously  vivid  picture  of  the  siege  and  fall 
of  a  city  under  ancient  warfare,  i.  2-9  is  a  portion  of  an 
acrostic  poem.  It  states  a  general  principle :  Jehovah  will 
avenge  his  people ;  he  is  strong  and  able  to  do  it.  This 
forms  an  appropriate  introduction  to  the  picture  of  the 
vengeance  of  Jehovah  on  Nineveh.     Since  the  acrostic  is 


58  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

imperfect  and  the  verses  do  not  mention  Nineveh,  some 
think  this  is  a  prefix  to  the  poem.  The  rest  of  the  book 
is  a  series  of  graphic,  picturesque  stanzas,  portraying  the 
end  of  Nineveh  and  exulting  over  its  fall.  Notice  as  you 
read  how  different  it  is  from  former  prophecies.  The 
prophet  does  not  plead  for  reform,  nor  denounce  sin  in 
Israel.  He  does  not  try  to  influence  Judali  in  either  morals 
or  religion.  His  place  among  the  prophets,  however,  is 
justified  by  his  conception  of  Jehovah  as  the  ruler  of  nations 
and  the  avenger  of  Israel,  and  his  use  of  the  prophetic 
ethical  principle  that  sin  brings  punishment. 

Habakkuk 

In  606  Nineveh  fell.  In  605  the  battle  of  Carchemish 
was  fought,  in  which  Babylon  won  from  Egypt  the  suprem- 
acy over  the  Semitic  world.  This  opened  a  new  problem 
to  prophetic  thought  in  Judah.  The  prophets  had  con- 
fidently expected  that  when  Assyria  fell  Judah  would  be 
free.  Mic  5.  2-9  gives  a  glowing  picture  of  a  prosperous 
Judah,  with  a  righteous  and  powerful  king  of  its  own,  when 
Assyria  should  fall ;  but  such  expectations  proved  to  be 
only  futile  dreams.  With  a  new  and  vigorous  empire  like 
Babylonia  in  control,  freedom  was  farther  off  than  ever. 
Was  Jehovah  weak?  If  not,  why  did  he  allow  the  wicked 
to  triumph?  Not  only  in  foreign  matters,  but  at  home,  the 
problem  became  intense.  Josiah  had  died  in  609,  and  the 
kings  who  followed  were  men  of  different  mold.  Selfish- 
ness and  injustice  ruled  in  high  places,  and  the  prophetic 
party  lost  its  influence  in  the  court.  Why  did  the  wicked 
triumph  and  the  righteous  suffer?  Had  God  forgotten  the 
world  ? 

The  little  book  of  Habakkuk  attempts  to  settle  this  prob- 
lem. Its  date  is  after  605,  but  the  intense  feeling  points 
to  a  time  soon  after.  The  prophet's  general  answer  to  the 
problem  is  given  in  an  epigram,  in  2.  4.  The  meaning  is, 
"Wickedness  contains   within  itself  the  germ  of  its  own 


ZEPHANIAH,   NAHUM,  AND   HABAKKUK     59 

destruction,  and  righteousness  contains  within  itself  the 
assurance  of  its  final  triumph."  The  old  prophetic  phil- 
osophy of  life  had  been  very  simple.  "Look  about  you," 
it  had  said,  "and  see.  Sin  brings  suffering;  righteousness 
brings  prosperity."  Life  no  longer  seemed  quite  so  simple. 
The  course  of  history  had  brought  a  time  when,  as  it  seemed, 
the  righteous  suffered  and  the  wicked  prospered  and,  as 
often  happens,  he  who  would  hold  his  religion  must  find  a 
new  theology ;  for  the  old  theology  no  longer  met  the  facts 
of  life.  The  new  theology  of  Habakkuk  made  as  little 
change  as  possible.  It  said :  "The  old  belief  was  right,  only 
its  working  is  not  immediately  visible.  If  you  wait  long 
enough,  you  will  still  find  that  the  wicked  suffer  and  the 
just  triumph." 

The  order  of  thought  in  ch.  i  is  not  wholly  clear.  Read 
it  and  see  if  the  "wicked"  are  Chaldeans  or  evil  men  of 
Judah,  whose  wickedness  the  Chaldeans  will  punish.  Some 
would  transfer  i.  5-1 1  to  a  place  after  2.  5.  If  this  is  done, 
read  i.  1-4,  12-17,  3-nd  see  the  order  of  thought.  In  ch.  2 
the  prophet  takes  his  stand  upon  his  prophetic  watchtower 
to  await  the  answer  to  his  question.  The  answer  comes, 
but  it  calls  for  patient  waiting  before  its  proof  is  seen.  The 
answer  is  the  epigram  of  2.  4,  quoted  above.  The  rest  of  the 
chapter  is  the  expansion  of  the  first  part  of  the  epigram ; 
calamity  will  surely  come  at  last  upon  the  wicked. 

Chapter  3  is  a  psalm,  appended  because  of  the  similarity 
of  its  fundamental  thought  to  that  of  the  book.  It  is  a 
majestic  expression  of  an  abiding  faith  in  God.  The  poem 
was  borrowed  from  a  temple  hymnal,  and  still  carries,  in 
its  superscription  and  subscription  and  the  term  "selah," 
marks  of  its  musical  use.  The  poet  calls  for  a  revelation 
of  God  (vv.  I,  2)  and  the  revelation  comes  in  the  form  of  a 
vision  of  majesty  and  power  (vv.  3-15).  The  vision  brings 
terror,  but  with  the  terror  comes  also  trust  (vv.  16-19). 
The  central  religious  thought  of  the  poem  lies  in  vv.  17,  18; 
"Even  in  the  midst  of  seeming  disaster,  I  will   still  trust 


6o  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

God."  This  thought  forms  the  connection  with  the  rest  of 
the  book,  and  accounts  for  the  placing  of  this  poem  at  the 
end  of  Habakkuk. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

I.     Paraphrase  Zeph  i.     Compare  the  social  and  religious  conditions 
reflected  in   i   and  2  with  Amos  and  Isaiah. 
Why  is  3.  14-20  placed  in  the  time  of  the  exile? 
Divide  Nah  2  and  3  into  stanzas,  stating  the  subject  of  each. 
In  what  ways  does  Nahum  make  his  poem  vivid? 

5.  Can   one  justify  the   revengeful   spirit  of   the  poem? 

6.  Why  is  the  date  of  Habakkuk  placed  shortly  after  605? 
Paraphrase  ch.  i  to  show  the  order  of  thought. 
Make  a   summary   of   ch.   3,    showing  the   relation   of   thought 

between  its  three  stanzas,  1-2,  3-15,  16-19. 
Is  Habakkuk's  solution  of  the  problem  created  by  the  suffering 
of   the   righteous   a   satisfactory   solution? 


CHAPTER  VII 
JEREMIAH 

The  greatest  among  the  later  preexilic  prophets  was 
Jeremiah,  as  Isaiah  had  been  of  the  earHer  period.  His 
times  were  more  discouraging  than  those  of  Isaiah,  His 
work  began  in  626,  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah's 
reign.  The  king  was  interested  in  reform.  He  repaired 
the  temple  and,  when  an  unknown  book  of  law,  found  in 
the  temple,  was  brought  to  him  he  put  it  in  force  throughout 
the  land.  He  had  been  educated  by  the  prophetic  party ; 
a  kinsman  of  his,  Zephaniah,  was  a  prophet,  and  prophetic 
ideals  dominated  the  court.  There  was  still,  however,  a 
strong  antiprophetic  sentiment.  After  Josiah's  death  a  suc- 
cession of  weak  kings  held  the  throne  for  brief  reigns,  each 
acting  in  accord  with  the  antiprophetic  party.  The  reforms 
which  Josiah  had  inaugurated  were  not  carried  out.  Foreign 
relations  were  also  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition.  Assyria 
decayed  and  at  last  fell  in  606,  but  Babylon  took  her  place. 
The  problem  which  this  set  for  religious  faith  we  have  seen 
in  Habakkuk.  The  political  problem  was  no  less  acute. 
Judah  might  have  had  an  humble  but  peaceful  existence  as 
a  vassal  state  of  the  Babylonian  empire,  but,  as  in  Isaiah's 
time,  Egypt  was  the  evil  genius  of  the  Palestinian  lands. 
She  was  as  anxious  to  divert  Babylon  from  her  borders  as 
she  had  been  formerly  to  divert  Assyria,  and  she  took  the 
same  means  to  gain  her  ends.  With  flattery  and  promises 
of  aid  she  tried  to  induce  the  Palestinian  states  to  revolt. 
Too  often  she  succeeded.  Twice  Judah  rebelled  against 
Babylon,  and  the  latter  time  the  kingdom  was  blotted  out, 
as  Northern  Israel  had  been  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  by  Assyria.  Jeremiah,  like  Isaiah,  urged  political 
neutrality,  only  to  be  flouted,  and  later  prosecuted  as  a 
trnitor  to  his  country.     The  nation  seemed  determined  to 

6t 


62  THE   BIBLE  AS   LITERATURE 

run  a  course  of  folly  which  could  end  only  in  disaster. 
Could  we  expect  a  cheerful  optimism  in  a  prophet  who 
lived  through  such  times? 

Jeremiah  was  a  native  of  Anathoth,  a  village  near  Jeru- 
salem. He  came  from  a  family  of  priests.  Like  Isaiah, 
he  belonged  to  the  aristocracy,  and  was  throughout  his 
career  a  familiar  figure  at  court.  His  writings  give  us  an 
unusually  clear  picture  of  his  character,  for  he  never  tried 
to  be  impersonal,  but  stated  his  own  feelings  with  the  utmost 
sincerity.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  sensibilities,  affectionate 
and  shrinking,  yet  driven  by  his  convictions  into  the  strife 
of  politics.  The  times  were  against  him.  A  staunch  patriot, 
he  was  obliged  to  seem  a  cowardly  traitor.  Every  reform 
in  which  he  was  interested  failed,  yet  he  bravely  turned 
after  each  failure  to  the  next  duty.  The  perversity  of  the 
situation  made  him  a  prophet  of  gloomy  disaster,  for  the 
people  would  not  take  the  way  to  safety  which  he  advised. 
So  what  might  have  been  the  gospel  of  Jeremiah  became  a 
dirge,  and  in  our  speech  "Jeremiad"  has  come  to  mean  a 
gloomy  complaint.  More  than  any  preceding  prophet  he 
stood  for  a  spiritual  religion.  He  appreciated  that  imme- 
diate fellowship  of  spirit  between  God  and  man  which 
lies  behind  so  much  that  is  best  in  the  highest  religions. 
His  experience  was  one  of  personal  communion  with  God, 
and  his  ideal  for  the  nation  was  that  all  should  be  in  this 
communion ;  that  God  should  "write  his  law  in  their  hearts" 
(31.  33f).  The  three  dominant  qualities  of  his  work  are 
(i)  emotion,  (2)  a  tone  of  sad  complaint,  and  (3)  an 
heroic  faith  that  persists  in  doing  duty,  no  matter  what  the 
result. 

The  book  of  Jeremiah  is  even  more  a  "Life  and  Times" 
than  is  Isaiah.  It  contains  more  biographical  matter  than 
any  other  prophetic  book.  It  is  a  somewhat  unorganized 
collection  of  narratives  and  prophecies,  with  some  inter- 
polations unconnected  with  Jeremiah.  Chapter  36,  which 
tells  how  the  nucleus  of  the  book  was  formed,  is  the  earliest 


JEREMIAH  63 

Hebrew  record  of  the  origin  of  a  book.  Read  the  chapter 
and  notice  the  occasion  for  making  the  book,  the  fate  of  the 
first  edition,  the  making  of  a  second  expanded  edition. 
Since  the  object  was  not  to  record  the  past,  but  to  influence 
the  present,  many  of  the  direct  historical  references  of  the 
earlier  sermons  were  omitted,  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
date  them.  It  is  not  possible  to  select  with  certainty  the 
contents  of  this  original  book,  but  it  is  comprised,  with  many 
additions,  within  chs.  i  to  28  of  the  present  book. 
There  are  four  main  parts  of  the  book. 

1.  Prophecies,  with  some  narratives,  nearly  all  in  the  first 
person,  chs.  i  to  25. 

2.  Narratives,  with  some  prophecies,  all  in  the  third  person, 
chs.  26  to  45. 

3.  Prophecies  about  foreign  nations,   chs.  46  to   51. 

4.  Narrative  (copied  from  2  Kings  24.  18  to  25.  30)   ch.  52. 

The  first  three  parts  seem  to  have  been  originally  inde- 
pendent. Further,  there  are  an  unusual  number  of  headings 
within  the  parts:  as  7.  i ;  14.  i ;  21.  i ;  25.  i,  etc.  It  may 
be  that  some,  if  not  all,  of  these  indicate  original  separate 
booklets,  like  the  present  minor  prophets,  later  combined 
into  a  great  book  of  Jeremiah.  Some  of  them  contain  pecu- 
liarities of  vocabulary  which  mark  an  independent  origin. 
The  gradual  growth  of  the  book  is  further  shown  by  the 
relation  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint  versions.  The 
Septuagint  often  dififers  somewhat  from  the  Hebrew  text 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  but  in  Jeremiah  the  differences 
are  remarkable.  About  a  fifth  of  the  book  of  Jeremiah 
differs  in  the  two  versions.  This  difference  consists  in 
omissions  and  additions  and  a  different  order  for  some  of 
the  same  material.  These  variations  show  that  as  late  as 
the  translation  of  the  LXX  there  were  two  variant  editions 
of  Jeremiah  among  the  Hebrew  people. 

The  style  is  usually  plain,  rising  in  some  of  the  more 
emotional  prophecies  into  the  poetry  of  strong  feeling. 
There   is    nothing   of   the   lofty    majesty,    the   magnificent 


64  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

rhetoric  of  Isaiah.  Jeremiah's  speech  is  direct,  homely, 
simple,  tender.  His  charm  lies  in  his  personality.  The 
reader  is  in  the  presence  of  a  noble  character,  speaking 
earnestly,  and  such  utterance  always  has  a  certain  eloquence. 

Jeremiah  labored  from  626  until  after  586,  a  period  of 
forty  years.  His  career  may  be  divided  into  periods  cor- 
responding to  political  divisions  of  Judah's  history. 

Period  J.  Prophecies  in  the  Reign  of  Josiah,  626-609. 
The  call  of  Jeremiah  is  told  in  ch.  i.  Like  Isaiah's  call,  it 
comes  in  a  vision,  which  was  written  out  much  later.  Read 
it  as  a  self-revelation,  showing  Jeremiah's  reticent  nature. 
He  saw  two  visions,  one  of  which  was  described  in  punning 
terms  (see  R.  V.  margin).  Note  the  homely  quality,  a 
characteristic  of  the  plain  style  of  Jeremiah.  The  vision 
presents  no  magnificent  imagery,  but  a  common  tree  and  a 
kitchen  pot. 

The  sermon  in  chs.  2  to  6  explains  the  allusion  to  the 
caldron  in  i.  13.  A  terrible  scourge  is  about  to  sweep  over 
the  land  from  the  north.  The  reference  is  probably  to  the 
Scythian  invasion,  in  which  both  Jeremiah  and  Zephaniah 
saw  the  wrath  of  God.  Historical  references  in  these  chap- 
ters are  vague,  because  these  sermons  were  among  those 
later  revised  to  fit  the  times  of  the  threatened  Babylonian 
invasion  (ch.  36). 

In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  621,  Josiah,  still  a 
young  man  of  twenty-six,  began  to  repair  the  temple,  which 
had  fallen  into  neglect  in  the  former  reigns.  The  laborers 
brought  a  law  book,  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  temple. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  these  laws  had  ever  been  obej'ed — 
or  even  known.  The  king,  appealing  from  the  book  to  the 
living  word  of  God  through  a  prophetess,  found  that  the 
prophetic  party  regarded  the  law  as  God's  will,  and  began  a 
reform  on  the  basis  of  it.  Read  2  Kings  22  and  23.  The 
abolition  of  all  worship  except  in  one  place,  which  was  the 
center  of  the  reform,  is  commanded  in  Deuteronomy.  The 
book  is  called,  like  Deuteronomy,  "the  book  of  the  covenant." 


JEREMIAH  65 

Detiteronomic  expressions  abound  in  the  description  of  the 
reform  in  2  Kings  23.  These  things  make  it  certain  that  the 
book  found  was  a  part,  perhaps  a  large  part,  of  Deuter- 
onomy. After  this  time  we  have  no  prophecies  from  Jeremiah 
during  the  rest  of  the  reign  of  Josiah.  A  commission  of 
priests  was  formed  to  put  in  force  the  new  law,  and  it  is 
likely  that  Jeremiah  was  engaged  in  this  work.  A  section 
written  later,  11.  1-17,  shows  that  he  labored  for  this  law. 

Period  II.  Prophecies  in  the  Reigns  of  Jehoiakim  and 
Jehoiachin,  608-597.  Josiah  died  in  a  battle  with  the  Egyp- 
tians. The  Egyptians  had  wished  to  cross  Judah  to  fight 
the  Assyrians,  but  Josiah  refused  permission.  When  they 
persisted  he  met  them  in  battle,  only  to  be  slain.  One  of 
Josiah's  sons,  Jehoahaz,  was  chosen  by  the  people  as  king. 
His  reign  of  only  three  months  finds  reflection  in  Jeremiah 
only  in  a  fragment  of  lament  over  his  sad  fate  (22.  10-12). 
He  was  deposed  by  the  Egyptians  and  his  half  brother, 
Jehoiakim,  put  in  his  place  (608)  ;  opponents  of  the  prophets 
now  came  into  power,  and  court  and  people  alike  rejected 
the  reforms  of  Josiah.  The  first  period  of  Jeremiah's  career 
closed  in  defeat  and  disappointment. 

Chapters  7  to  10  (except  10.  1-16)  come  mostly  from  the 
early  part  of  Jehoiachim's  reign.  Chapter  7.  1-28  is  the 
most  vehemently  indignant  of  all  Jeremiah's  sermons.  This 
timid,  shrinking  man  had,  as  such  men  usually  have,  a  fiery 
temper  when  once  aroused.  The  sermon  is  of  especial 
interest  because  we  have  a  summary  of  it  in  ch.  26,  with  an 
account  of  the  result  for  Jeremiah. 

Chapter  ii.  18  to  12.  6  is  an  interesting  fragment,  re- 
vealing yet  another  side  of  Jeremiah's  nature.  Notice  the 
abruptness  with  which  it  begins,  evidently  in  the  middle 
of  a  sentence.  Jeremiah's  kinsmen  and  fellow  townsmen, 
priests  of  Jehovah,  plotted  to  kill  him.  See  the  spirit  of 
resentment  in  his  denunciation  in  11.  20  and  12.  3.  Jeremiah 
is  no  meek  saint,  turning  the  other  cheek  when  his  enemies 
smite  him. 


66  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

A  group  of  enacted  propliecies  shows  the  growth  of  the 
use  of  symbolism  in  prophecy.  Chapter  13.  i-ii  shows  Judah 
is  as  useless  to  God  as  a  rotten  girdle  is  to  a  man.  Chapters 
18  and  19  teach  that  what  God  can  make  of  Judah  de- 
pends on  Judah  itself.  A  time  comes  in  the  history  of 
nations  when  further  change  is  impossible.  Let  Judah 
take  warning.  In  chs.  19.  14  to  20.  18  Jeremiah  attempted 
to  preach  in  the  temple,  only  to  be  arrested  and  put  in  prison 
by  the  chief  of  the  temple  officers.  He  denounced  his 
enemies,  and  then  broke  down  in  a  lament  that  he  was  ever 
born  to  try  to  set  right  times  so  out  of  joint  (20.  7-18). 
This  is  the  sort  of  utterance  that  gave  Jeremiah  the  name 
of  the  weeping  prophet.  Is  it  surprising  that  he  should 
sometimes  yield  to  discouragement? 

Meantime  great  events  were  happening,  Assyria  had 
fallen.  The  great  battle  of  Carchemish  had  been  fought, 
settling  for  generations  the  question  whether  Palestine 
should  belong  to  Egypt  or  to  Babylon.  These  events  inti- 
mately concerned  Judah,  and  Jeremiah,  actively  engaged  in 
politics,  tried  to  guide  his  country  into  wise  courses.  Doubt- 
less we  have  only  fragments  from  the  many  utterances  of 
this  period.  After  the  crushing  defeat  of  Egypt  at  the 
battle  of  Carchemish,  Babylonian  armies  soon  appeared  in 
Palestine  and  demanded  the  submission  of  Judah.  It  must 
perforce  be  given,  however  grudgingly,  but  there  was  a 
strong  pro-Egyptian  party,  as  in  the  days  of  Isaiah,  who 
stirred  up  discontent  against  this  newly  risen  power,  Baby- 
lon. Jeremiah  said  that  the  safety  of  Judah  lay  in  accepting 
sincerely  the  rule  of  Babylon,  and  giving  up  the  hope  of 
freedom  with  the  aid  of  Eg}-pt.  This  seemed  to  many  to 
be  unpatriotic,  and  was  the  beginning  of  much  trouble  for 
Jeremiah. 

The  section  of  prophecies  against  the  nations,  chs.  46 
to  49,  begins  with  a  poetic  rhapsody  in  which  he  pictures 
the  defeat  and  disaster  to  Egypt  at  Carchemish.  In  46.  1-12, 
notice  the  thought  that  it  is  Jehovah  who  has  wrought  this 


JEREMIAH  67 

defeat.  This  prophecy  was  intended  to  weaken  the  trust 
of  Judah  in  Egypt.  In  ch.  25.  i-ii  he  pleads  directly  for 
submission  to  Babylon.  If  they  ask  why  Babylon  is 
dominant,  it  is  because  of  their  sins.  Babylon  will  be 
supreme  for  seventy  years — a  round  number,  as  we  might 
say,  for  a  century  (vv.  12-14,  pi"obably  not  at  this  time. 
"For"  in  v.  15  connects  with  11).  The  rest  of  the  chapter 
is  a  series  of  figures  of  the  supremacy  of  Babylon  over  all 
the  nations  (some  verses,  as  30-33,  perhaps  interpolations). 
Notice  the  vigor  of  style  in  all  the  chapter,  marking  the 
positive  conviction  of  the  prophet. 

But  again  Jeremiah  failed  and  Judah  revolted  in  spite 
of  his  protests.  Babylonian  armies  appeared  in  Palestine, 
and  marauding  bands  of  neighboring  nations  took  occasion 
to  raid  the  helpless  land,  so  that  even  the  fragments  of 
wandering  Bedouin  tribes,  the  gypsies  of  the  country,  sought 
refuge  within  the  crowded  walls  of  Jerusalem.  Jeremiah 
took  occasion  to  illustrate  the  religious  side  of  the  situation 
in  ch.  35.  See  how  dramatically  he  enforced  his  lesson : 
"You  have  been  wondering  why  all  this  disaster  comes ;  it 
is  because  of  your  disobedience  to  God.  Even  this  wander- 
ing band  understands  obedience  better  than  you  do." 

Jehoiakim  did  not  live  to  suifer  for  his  revolt,  and  it 
was  left  for  his  son  Jehoiachin,  after  a  rule  of  three  months 
in  a  besieged  city,  to  surrender  in  597.  Jerusalem  was  not 
destroyed,  but  the  leading  people  were  deported  to  Baby- 
lonia.    This  is  known  as  the  first  captivity. 

Period  III.  Prophecies  in  the  Reign  of  Zedekiah,  597- 
586.  The  Babylonians  set  up  a  new  king,  Zedekiah,  another 
son  of  Josiah,  and  allowed  the  weakened  kingdom  one  more 
chance.  Most  of  the  upper  classes  were  deported;  those  left 
began  to  plot  against  Babylon.  In  ch.  24  Jeremiah,  with 
humorous  sarcasm,  pours  contempt  on  the  power  of  the 
people :  "With  the  best  of  the  nation  gone,  do  you  think 
that  revolt  would  lead  to  anything  but  disaster?"  Evi- 
dently, rebellion  was  already  discussed  among  this  foolish 


68  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

people.  It  was  urged  on  both  patriotic  and  religious  grounds. 
Prophets  claimed  that  Jehovah  would  not  long  keep  his 
own  people  in  bondage.  During  this  whole  period  many 
of  Jeremiah's  enemies  considered  him  a  traitor  and  a  heretic 
who  had  abandoned  the  ancient  trust  in  the  national  God. 
Meantime,  after  some  years  of  half-hearted  loyalty  to 
Babylon,  Zedekiah  was  at  last  drawn  into  a  revolution 
along  with  Edom,  Moab,  Anion,  Tyre,  and  Sidon,  with 
promised  help  from  Eg>'pt.  The  result  might  have  been 
anticipated.  The  Babylonians  invaded  Judah ;  after  a  siege 
of  three  years  Jerusalem  fell  in  586.  The  history  of  Jere- 
miah's attitude  and  its  consequences  for  him  may  be  found 
in  chs.  27,  21,  28,  32.  1-15,  37.  I  to  39.  10.  It  is  a  history 
of  lonely  heroism.  Imagine  his  position.  Note  how  Jere- 
miah was  obliged  to  seem  like  a  traitor,  how  during  the 
siege  he  advised  the  people  to  desert  if  the  officials  did  not 
surrender.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  he  was  imprisoned?  What 
would  happen  to  a  man  in  a  modern  besieged  city  who  gave 
such  advice?  The  wonder  is  that  he  was  not  killed  out  of 
hand. 

Period  IV.  After  the  Beginning  of  the  Exile  in  586. 
The  great  lifework  of  Jeremiah  had  failed  on  both  its 
political  and  its  religious  sides.  Still  he  did  not  feel  that 
his  work  was  finished.  The  Babylonian  government,  know- 
ing his  loyalty  to  them,  offered  him  the  bounty  of  a  pensioner 
in  Babylon,  if  he  elected  to  go  there.  To  take  this  offer 
would  have  meant  the  loss  of  any  influence  with  his  own 
nation.  His  own  people  would  have  interpreted  it  as  pay- 
ment for  calculated  treason.  He  chose  to  remain  with  the 
poor  of  the  land  in  Judah.  A  provisional  government  was 
set  up  at  Mizpah,  overlooking  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem.  He 
felt  that  here  lay  his  duty,  in  trying  to  gather  the  fragments 
of  this  poor  crushed  state.  Even  this  he  was  not  able  to  do. 
The  governor  appointed  by  Babylon  was  murdered  and  the 
people,  fearing  further  vengeance,  fled  to  Egypt,  and  com- 
pelled the  protesting  Jeremiah  to  accompany  them.     Even 


JEREMIAH  69 

here  hostility  pursued  him.  He  protested  against  the  sacri- 
fice to  the  queen  of  heaven  (Astarte),  arguing  that  such 
things  had  brought  on  Judah  all  her  troubles  (44.  1-14). 
The  people  replied  that,  on  the  contrary,  trouble  began  only 
after  Josiah's  reform  had  forbidden  such  worship  (44.  15- 
19).  Jeremiah  could  only  reiterate  his  argument  (44.  20- 
23),  The  old  prophetic  theology  had  explained  all  national 
suffering  as  the  result  of  national  sin.  Now  there  came  a 
time  when  the  greatest  national  suffering  had  followed  on 
the  greatest  reform.  The  new  situation  demanded  a  new 
theology,  and,  as  usual,  the  old  men  could  not  bring  it.  The 
coming  generation  must  meet  the  new  problems  in  new 
ways.    For  the  whole  story,  read  chs.  39.  11  to  44.  30. 

Jeremiah  failed  to  accomplish  what  he  desired,  but  he 
left  a  strong  influence  upon  future  generations.  No  prophet 
set  his  mark  more  indelibly  upon  the  future  religious  thought 
of  Judaism  than  did  this  man,  who  seemed  to  fail  at  every 
point  of  his  career. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 
/.     In    the   Reign   of  Josiah 

1.  Paraphrase   ch.    i.     Compare    Isa   6,    as  to   style,   content,   and 

effectiveness. 

2.  What  light  does  ch.  36  throw  on  the  formation  of  the  book? 

3.  Summarize  ch.  6.     What  allusions  to  the  national   dangers? 

//.     In  the  Reign  of  Jchoachim 

Content  of  sermon  in  7.  1-28;  its  outcome  (ch.  26).    Why  should 

the  sermon  have  aroused   such  opposition? 
Read   2   Kings   22,   23.     What   was   attempted   in    the    reform? 

Compare  Deut  12,  as  the  basis  of  the  reform. 
Chapter  11.   18  to  12.  6.     Paraphrase.     What  was  the  attitude 

of  his  townsmen  toward  Jeremiah;  of  Jeremiah  toward  them? 
Chapters   13,  18,  19,  35.     What  was  the  prophet's  use  of  each 

symbol  ? 

5.  Contrast  the  use  of  the  figure  of   the  potter  and  the  clay   in 

Jer  18  and  in  Rom  g.  19-21. 

6.  The  expectations  for  the  future  in  25.  i-ir. 


70  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

///.     In   the   Reign   of   Zedekiah 

1.  What  was  Jeremiah's  purpose  in  ch.  24? 

2.  What    are    the    main    thoughts    in    chs.    27,    21,    28,    32.    1-15? 

What  was  the  prophet's  purpose  in  these  sermons? 

3.  Chapters   37,   38.     Jeremiah's    position    in    the    siege?     Was    it 

cowardice?     If   not,    how   account    for   it? 

4.  Chapters  40  to  44.     What  is  the  story  of  the  events  after  the 

exile? 

5.  Paraphrase  44.   2-ig.     Which  position  was  historically  correct, 

that  taken  by  the  people  or  that  by  Jeremiah? 

IV.     General   Topics 

1.  Make  a  chronology  of  Jeremiah's  life,  using  the  dates  626,  621, 

609,  606,  60s,  597.  586.     Name  the  events  connected  with  these 
dates.    Fit  the  chapters  studied  into  this  chronological  scheme. 

2.  Which  is  the  greater  prophet,  Jeremiah  or  Isaiah?     Which  the 

more  interesting  character? 

3.  What  were  the  prominent  personal  qualities  of  Jeremiah?    Give 

passages   from  his  book  to  illustrate. 

4.  How  would  you  rank  the  sermons  of  Jeremiah  as  literature? 

Compare   Isaiah.     Give  passages  to  illustrate.     What  is  the 
best  literary  production  among  the  sermons  studied? 

5.  A  study  of  Jeremiah  and  Isaiah  as  illustrating  subjective  and 

objective  literature. 

6.  Ideas   of  Jeremiah   as  to    (a)    God,    (b)    the   future   of  Judah, 

(i)  attempts  to  win  national  freedom,  (2)  relation  of  religion 
and  morality. 

7.  Contrast  the  common  idea  that  nearly  all  the  people  were  taken 

to  Babylon  in  the  exile  with  the  statements  and  figures  in 
Jcr  52.   28-30. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EZEKIEL 

When,  in  597,  large  portions  of  the  upper  classes  of  Judah 
were  deported  to  Babylonia,  they  entered  upon  an  entirely 
new  life.  Economically  and  socially  they  fared  much  better 
than  ordinary  captives  of  oriental  wars.  They  were  not  sold 
in  the  slave  markets  and  scattered,  but  were  treated  as 
enforced  colonists,  given  villages  on  the  fertile  Babylonian 
plain,  and  allowed  to  develop  their  own  social  and  economic 
life  as  best  they  could.  Doubtless  the  new  conditions 
brought  certain  hardships,  and  the  longing  for  friends  and 
for  the  sight  of  the  hills  about  Jerusalem  finds  occasional 
pathetic  expression  in  their  literature.  But  deeper  than 
this  homesickness,  known  to  all  emigrants  the  world  over, 
and  far  more  dangerous  to  the  national  existence,  was  the 
religious  peril.  Jehovah  in  their  thought  had  come  to  be  a 
God  connected  with  the  land  of  Israel.  By  common  consent 
in  Semitic  theory,  the  God  of  the  land  could  be  worshiped 
only  in  the  land.  These  exiles  could  no  longer  worship 
Jehovah,  for  they  were  in  the  land  of  other  gods.  More- 
over, Jehovah  had  not  been  able  to  save  his  own  land  from 
invasion.  Why  should  they  cling  to  his  memory  since  they 
could  not  worship  him  and  he  could  not  protect  them? 
Plainly  if  faith  in  Jehovah  was  to  be  kept,  new  conceptions 
of  him  must  be  found.  The  old  Semitic  ideas  would  lead 
them  to  abandon  their  religion  and  with  it  their  national 
ideals.  Bad  as  the  present  was,  the  future  seemed  still 
worse.  Jerusalem  had  been  taken,  but  not  overthrown. 
Should  the  people  revolt  again  and  the  city  be  destroyed, 
that  would  put  an  end  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah  in  the 
temple.    Most  Jews  probably  had  too  great  faith  in  Jehovah 

71 


^2  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

to  believe  that  such  a  thing  could  happen,  but  suppose  it 
should?  The  only  conclusion  would  be  that  Jehovah  was 
too  weak  to  protect  his  own  worship. 

There  was  a  young  priest  among  the  exiles,  Ezekiel,  a 
disciple  of  Jeremiah,  who  pondered  these  problems  during 
five  years,  and  then,  in  592,  began  to  give  the  solution  as 
he  conceived  God  had  given  it  to  him.  At  intervals  for 
twenty-two  years,  till  570,  he  came  forward  with  messages 
for  the  people.  These  messages  all  concerned  the  problem, 
how  to  hold  faith  in  God  amid  the  new  conditions.  He  was, 
like  Jeremiah,  a  patriot,  but  he  could  not  hope  to  influence 
events  in  Jerusalem.  His  work  lay  entirely  with  the  exile 
community  in  Babylonia ;  but  he  did  not  regard  that  work 
as  unimportant.  Like  Jeremiah,  he  recognized  that  the 
exiles  were  the  flower  of  the  nation,  and  he  believed  that 
the  hope  of  the  future  lay  with  them. 

The  writing  of  Ezekiel  presents,  for  the  first  time  in 
prophecy,  not  a  mass  of  extracts  and  fragments  but  a  real 
book,  orderly  and  chronological  in  arrangement.  Except 
I.  2,  and  3,  it  is  all  written  in  the  first  person,  and  is  the 
work  of  Ezekiel,  with  few,  if  any,  interpolations. 

The  style  is  mostly  prosaic,  sometimes  in  the  more  emo- 
tional parts  rising  into  poetry.  It  is  homely,  plain,  and 
somewhat  wordy.  One  characteristic  is  the  abundant  use 
of  parables,  allegories,  and  enacted  prophecy.  Vision  plays 
a  large  part,  often  evidently  as  a  literary  device.  Baby- 
lonian influences  affected  both  content  and  form.  The 
Babylonian  winged  images  appear  in  the  visions,  and  the 
Babylonian  influence  is  also  seen  in  the  careful  scheme  of 
dating  by  year  and  month,  so  different  from  the  earlier 
prophetic  books  (see  i.  i  ;  8.  i ;  20.  i  ;  24.  i ;  26.  i ;  29.  i,  etc. 

The  book  is  in  three  parts : 

Part  I.  Threats  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Spoken  from  592  to 
586.     Chs.  I  to  24. 

Part  II.  Prophecies  against  the  nations.  Various  dates  from 
586  to  570.     Chs.  25  to  2>2. 


EZEKIEL  -jT, 

Part  III.  Promises  of  the  restoration  of  the  nation,  (i)  The 
restoration  of  the  land  and  the  nation,  chs.  33  to  39,  dated  584. 
(2)  The  religious  cult  and  civil  divisions  in  the  restoration,  chs.  40 
to  48,  dated  572. 

Parti.  I.  Chapters  I  to  3.  Ezekiel's  call.  This  prophet, 
like  Jeremiah  and  Isaiah,  embodied  the  story  of  his  call  to 
work  in  the  form  of  a  vision  expressing  his  conception  of 
God.  Isaiah's  vision  was  very  simple ;  this  one  is  exceedingly 
complex,  but  both  express  the  sense  of  majesty,  power,  holi- 
ness. Ezekiel's  is  not  pictorial  but  symbolic.  Note  how 
form  and  color  are  used  to  express  power  and  glory.  From 
this  powerful  God  Ezekiel  has  his  commission,  but  he  has  no 
promise  of  easy  success. 

2.  Chapters  4  to  7.  Symbols  of  the  siege,  capture  and 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  Jews  did  not  believe  that 
God  would  allow  his  city  to  be  completely  destroyed.  Ezekiel 
affirmed  that  he  would  not  only  allow  it  but  aid  it.  He  would 
give  the  city  no  protection.  It  would  be  as  though  a  plate 
of  iron  were  between  him  and  the  city.  Some  of  the 
symbolic  actions  of  this  passage  could  hardly  have  been 
performed,  and  must  have  been  narrated  only  (4.  4-6), 

3.  Chapters  8  to  11.  Jehovah's  abandonment  of  Jeru- 
salem is  for  a  reason.  The  worship  of  him  in  the  temple 
is  as  blasphemous  as  though  it  were  idolatry.  This  section 
is  a  symbolic  cycle  of  vision  repeating  the  elements  of 
symbolism  in  ch.  i. 

4.  Chapters  12  to  20.  A  collection  of  symbolic  actions 
(12),  parables  (17)  and  oracles,  reiterating  the  guilt  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  certainty  of  its  fall.  Chapter  17  states 
the  political  facts  behind  the  prophecy.  Zedekiah,  set  on 
the  throne  of  Judah  by  Babylon,  was  plotting  revolt,  de- 
pending on  the  promised  help  of  Egypt.  Chapter  18  is  a 
most  important  passage  for  the  history  of  religion.  It  is 
the  first  full  statement  in  Hebrew  literature  of  individual 
religion  (based  on  Jeremiah?).  The  appreciation  of  indi- 
vidual religion   was   the   greatest  step   ever   taken   in   the 


74  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

history  of  religion.  Ezekiel  was  driven  to  it  by  the  national 
situation.  With  the  temple  destroyed,  national  worship 
would  be  gone.  In  the  older  thought  national  worship  was 
the  only  possible  way  to  approach  God ;  after  this  coming 
disaster  to  the  national  religion  any  communion  with  God 
must  be  on  the  basis  of  a  personal  relationship.  This  per- 
sonal relationship  seems  to  us  to  be  the  very  essence  of 
religion.  It  was  unknown  to  former  times  and  the  tragedy 
of  the  exile  introduced  it  to  Hebrew  thought. 

5.  Chapters  20  to  24.  The  certainty  and  the  justice  of 
Jerusalem's  destruction.  A  collection  of  vehement  oracles, 
sometimes  rising  into  passionate  poetry,  as  in  24.  1-14. 
Chapter  24  comes  from  the  beginning  of  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  people  still  do  not  believe  that  Jehovah  will 
allow  his  city  to  fall,  unless  he  is  too  weak  to  protect  it. 
To  meet  this  mistaken  confidence,  Ezekiel  uses  his  most 
striking  symbol  (24.  15-27).  His  wife  dies,  and  he  goes 
forth  the  next  day  with  no  sign  of  mourning.  So  strange 
an  action,  dishonoring  himself  and  his  wife  too,  is  a  symbol. 
Jerusalem  will  fall,  and  those  who  did  not  believe  it  possible 
will  be  stupefied  with  despair. 

Part  II.  Chapters  25  to  32.  Prophecies  against  the 
nations.  Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  whole  world,  will  punish 
other  states  as  well  as  Israel  for  their  insolent  pride.  Their 
destruction  \\\\\  be  final  and  the  way  thus  cleared  for  a 
Jewish  empire.  One  of  the  finest  examples  of  the  "song  of 
doom"  in  literature  is  the  elegy  over  Tyre,  picturing  its 
trade,  its  wealth,  and  its  fall   (26.  i  to  28.  19). 

Part  III.  Chapters  33  to  48.  This  part  follows  the  fall 
of  Jerusalem,  as  Part  I  precedes  it.  The  tone  is  now 
completely  changed.  Part  I  was  entirely  a  threat  of  de- 
struction. The  danger  had  been  that  when  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  came  the  people  would  suppose  it  meant  the 
defeat  of  Jehovah.  On  the  contrary,  the  prophet  had  said, 
Jehovah  approved  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Now  the  destruc- 
tion had  come.     This  opened  a  new  phase  of  the  problem. 


EZEKIEL  75 

Grant  that  Ezekiel's  position  was  true,  and  Jehovah  had 
abandoned  Jerusalem ;  then  that  put  an  end  to  relations 
between  Israel  and  Jehovah.  Their  God  must  have  preferred 
no  worship  at  all  to  that  of  Israel,  for  he  had  allowed  his 
temple  to  be  destroyed. 

Ezekiel's  task  was  to  keep  the  people  faithful  to  Jehovah, 
even  if  they  could  not  offer  him  formal  worship.  He  did 
it  by  trying  to  inspire  hope  for  the  future.  This  abandon- 
ment of  Israel  by  God  is  not  the  end ;  he  will  restore  the 
nation  and  its  worship.  The  purpose  of  Ezekiel  in  this 
part  was  encouragement.  He  tried  to  sustain  faith  in 
Jehovah  by  picturing  the  future  restoration  of  Israel. 

The  first  section,  chs.  2)3  to  39,  presents  a  unity  of  point  of 
view  with  a  variety  of  subject.  The  theme  is,  Israel  will 
be  restored.  It  opens  with  a  restatement  of  the  prophet's 
feeling  of  his  call  (compare  3.  16-21).  Chapter  23-  10-20 
is  a  restatement  of  the  principle  of  individual  religion  (com- 
pare 18).  These  thoughts  are  introductory  to  the  general 
subject,  which  begins  in  ^3-  21-33 ;  Israel's  sin  was  the  cause 
of  its  disaster.  Chapter  34  sho\ys  how  Israel  was  led  astray 
by  its  rulers.  Now  Jehovah  himself  will  be  the  ruler,  and 
will  give  a  righteous  prince.  Chapter  35  affirms  that  Edom 
will  not  be  allowed  to  possess  the  land  of  Israel.  Chapter 
36  explains  that  the  land  will  be  made  prosperous  and 
fertile.  Chapter  37  predicts  that  the  nation  will  revive,  and 
Judah  and  Ephraim  be  united.  In  chs.  38,  39  is  an  ideal 
picture.  Israel  has  been  too  weak  to  resist  invasion,  but  in 
the  future  Jehovah  will  protect  her.  Though  nations  from 
the  farthest  bounds  of  the  earth  should  come,  he  will  destroy 
them.  Note  the  elements  of  strength  and  vividness,  but 
also  of  grotesqueness,  in  the  figures  used.  From  this 
passage  much  imagery  was  drawn  by  the  later  apocalyptic 
writers. 

This  section  laid  the  foundations  for  a  confident  hope.  It 
touched  upon  the  rulers,  the  land,  the  people,  and  the 
guarantee  of  their  safety  through  the  power  of  Jehovah. 


76  THE   BIBLE  AS    LITERATURE 

The  next  section,  chs.  40  to  48,  enters  at  great  length  into 
the  constitution  of  the  restored  nation.  The  prophet  here 
turns  lawgiver,  but  the  law  is  mostly  ideal,  representing  the 
theory  of  the  priests.  Its  center  is  the  ritual  of  worship. 
The  section  describes,  often  in  great  detail,  the  temple,  the 
worship,  the  division  of  the  land.  It  connects  with  former 
prophetic  thought  by  emphasizing  the  holiness  of  God.  It 
shows  the  growing  ecclesiastical  spirit  by  exalting  the  priest 
above  the  layman.  It  closes  with  an  ideal  division  of  the 
land  between  the  tribes,  the  priests,  and  the  prince,  in  which 
the  land  is  blocked  off  in  strips  without  regard  to  physical 
facts  (48).  The  entire  section  is  a  curious  combination  of 
lofty  ideals  and  prosaic  details.  Its  object  is  to  cheer  the 
despondent  exiles,  and  hold  them  to  their  faith  in  the  power 
of  their  God  and  in  the  future  of  their  nation. 

Other  peoples  under  like  conditions  sometimes  lost  reli- 
gion and  nationality  and  disappeared  from  history,  as  did 
Northern  Israel.  The  fact  that  Judah  kept  religion  and 
national  life  intact  was  due  to  Ezekiel  and  others  like  him. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 
/.     Prophecies  Before  586 

1.  Compare  the  vision  of  Ezek  i  with  Isa  6,  and  with  Jer  i  for 
likenesses  and  differences.  Is  Ezek  i  a  real  vision,  or  a  literary 
device? 

2.  Read  chs.  2,  3,  4.  1-8,  5,  8  to  11,  14,  15,  17,  18,  24.  State  the 
main  thought  of  each  passage ;  the  figures  used  and  their  meaning. 

//.     Prophecies  After  586 

3.  Make  an  outline  of  the  thought  of  chs.  2i2i<  34.  2i7-  How  do 
these  chapters  meet  the  religious  need  of  the  exiles? 

4.  Make  a  summary  of  chs.  38,  39.  Is  it  prediction  of  future 
events  or  a  symbol  of  religious  confidence? 

5.  Chapter  47.  1-12.     The  meaning  of  the  symbolism. 

///.     General  Topics 

6.  Compare  the  purpose  and  the  style  of  Parts  I  and  III. 

7.  Poetic  elements  in  the  lament  over  Tyre,  chs.  26,  zy,  28. 


EZEKIEL  'j'j 

8.  In  chs.   i8  and  33.   1-20  what  are  Ezekiel's  ideas  concerning 
personal  religion? 

9.  Compare    the    style    of    Ezekiel    with    that    of   Jeremiah;    of 
Isaiah. 

10.  What  are  the  best  passages  in  Ezekiel  as  literature?     What 
the  most  important   for  religious  value? 


CHAPTER  IX 
SECOND  ISAIAH 

EzEKiEL  had  promised  a  restoration  of  Israel.  He  had 
appHed  the  principle  of  Habakkuk  to  the  situation  of  the 
Jews:  "Hold  your  trust  in  God  and  all  will  come  out  well. 
The  just  shall  live  by  his  faith."  But  to  keep  faith  was  not 
easy.  Over  twenty  years  passed  by  after  the  last  recorded 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel,  and  there  was  no  release.  It  was 
hard  to  keep  the  national  religion  strong.  There  was  no 
temple,  no  sacrifice,  nothing  that  an  ancient  people  could 
call  worship.  All  they  could  do  was  to  gather  in  their 
villages  and  read  the  prophetic  writings  and  pray  to  their 
God.  Out  of  these  circumstances  grew  the  synagogue  and 
the  Hebrew  canon.  The  less  patriotic  of  the  nation  lost 
interest.  The  gods  of  Babylonia  were  evidently  stronger 
than  Jehovah ;  why  not  worship  them  ?  They  questioned 
whether  Jehovah  was  too  weak  to  help,  or  too  indifferent  to 
care  for  them. 

At  last  those  who  were  watching  the  horizon  thought  they 
saw  a  ray  of  hope.  Cyrus,  a  Persian  by  race,  king  of  one 
of  the  small  kingdoms  on  the  Persian  plateau,  had  begun  to 
form  a  coalition  of  states.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
Medo-Persian  empire.  Between  550  and  546  he  threatened 
Babylonia,  and  spent  the  next  decade  in  enlarging  the 
Persian  realm  and  conquering  Asia  Minor.  In  538  he  at- 
tacked Babylonia  and  conquered  it.  During  this  decade 
the  Jews,  in  common  with  other  exiles,  must  have  watched 
with  eagerness  the  growth  of  the  Persian  power.  Babylonia 
was  honeycombed  with  discontent.  When  at  last  Cyrus 
made  the  attack,  Babylonia  fell  with  scarcely  a  struggle, 

78 


SECOND  ISAIAH  79 

and  the  conqueror  was  welcomed  by  many  of  the  people  as 
a  deliverer.  It  might  be  exi)ecte(l  that  some  Jew  would 
make  the  prevailing  expectation  a  basis  for  words  of  en- 
couragement and  hope  to  the  Hebrew  exiles.  Jehovah  had 
promised  them  release ;  here  was  the  sign  of  its  coming. 
If  they  would  hold  faith  only  a  little  while  longer,  the 
promise  would  be  fulfilled. 

These  hopes  find  expression  in  the  first  section  of  the 
second  part  of  Isaiah.  The  writing  is  thoroughly  objective 
and  reveals  almost  nothing  about  the  writer.  The  section 
contains  poetry  of  unusual  power,  written  in  a  spirit  of 
deep  religious  and  patriotic  devotion ;  but  it  is  not  even 
certain  that  it  all  comes  from  one  author.  The  writer  is 
usually  called,  like  the  book,  the  Second  Isaiah,  or  Deutero- 
Isaiah,  sometimes  the  Great  Unknown,  or  the  Great  Prophet 
of  the  exile. 

The  book  known  as  Second  Isaiah  consists  of  Isaiah 
40  to  66.  In  structure  it  is  simply  an  appendix  to  Isaiah, 
but  it  is  so  large  in  amount,  so  striking  as  literature,  and 
so  valuable  for  the  history  of  Hebrew  thought  that  it  fully 
deserves  to  be  regarded  as  a  separate  book.  It  is  different 
from  the  sermons  of  Isaiah  in  style,  in  thought,  in  historical 
background.  It  is  divided  into  two  parts:  i.  Chapters  40 
to  55,  consolation  to  the  exiles  in  Babylon;  2.  Chapters 
56  to  66,  mingled  condemnations  and  promises. 

Part  I  divides  into  sections :  i.  Chapters  40  to  48 :  Jehovah 
will  soon  release  Israel  from  Babylon ;  he  is  strong,  and  able 
to  do  it.  2.  Chapters  49  to  55 :  The  future  mission  and  glory 
of  Israel.  The  first  section  is  a  unity,  repeating  the  same 
argument  in  varying  forms :  "You  think  he  is  too  weak  ? 
No,  he  is  strong.  The  Babylonian  gods  are  weak.  He  made 
the  world  and  controls  all  history.  Jehovah  will  release 
you.  Trust  a  little  longer,  and  freedom  will  come."  This 
section  from  a  purely  literary  point  of  view  is  the  finest  part 
of  Second  Isaiah.  The  second  section  continues  the  first 
with  emphasis  on  the  restored  Israel  rather  than  on  the  mere 


8o  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

fact  of  release.  "God  has  glory  in  store  for  the  nation,  but 
he  also  assigns  duties  to  it."  This  section  is  not  so  unified, 
has  some  interpolations,  and  is  thought  by  many  to  have 
been  written  a  little  later,  when,  in  538,  Cyrus  had  actually 
conquered  Babylon  and  the  release  was  near  at  hand. 

Second  Isaiah  is  poetry,  not  oratory.  One  only  needs  to 
read  a  chapter  of  each  to  see  the  difference  between  the 
style  of  First  and  Second  Isaiah.  The  First  Isaiah  is  in- 
cisive, compact,  forceful.  The  Second  Isaiah  is  fuller  in 
statement,  more  argumentative,  more  deliberate.  The  First 
uses  imagery  largely  drawn  from  nature  ;  the  Second,  largely 
drawn  from  human  emotions.  Each  is  full  of  feeling,  but 
the  cause  and  the  expression  of  it  is  very  different.  Each  is 
the  best  of  its  sort  among  prophecy :  the  first  the  best  oratory, 
the  second  the  best  poetic  rhapsody. 

The  background  of  the  early  chapters  of  the  book  is  the 
discouragement  of  the  people.  They  do  not  believe  that 
any  relief  is  possible.  The  first  task  of  the  prophet  is  to 
waken  their  hope.  He  does  this  by  emphasizing  in  the  first 
section  the  certainty  of  their  release.  Chapter  40  begins 
with  a  trumpet  call  to  faith.  Then  he  passes  to  the  thought 
of  the  power  of  God.  This  thought  gives  the  keynote  to  chs. 
40  to  48.  Notice  the  proof  of  the  power  of  Jehovah  in  vv. 
12-31.  Chapter  41  is  a  judgment  scene.  The  question  at 
issue  is,  who  has  raised  up  Cyrus  (v.  2)  ?  The  answer 
furnishes  a  second  proof  of  Jehovah's  power.  Notice  the 
attitude  of  this  writer  toward  the  gods  of  Babylon ;  they 
are  not  gods  at  all ;  only  helpless  idols. 

Chapter  42  introduces  a  new  figure.  Israel  is  Jehovah's 
servant ;  he  has  a  mission,  but  has  not  performed  it.  Jehovah 
will  release  him,  and  then  he  will  be  able  to  do  Jehovah's  bid- 
ding. Chapter  43.  8-13  is  another  judgment  scene  between 
Jehovah  and  the  idols.  Chapter  44.  9-20  is  a  satire  on  idolatry. 
Chapter  44.  24  to  48.  22,  while  expressing  the  same  ideas  as 
chs.  40  to  44.  22),  changes  the  point  of  view.  There  the  center 
of  thought  is  Israel ;  here  it  is  the  fall  of  Babylon ;  the 


SECOND  ISAIAH  8i 

judgment  of  Jehovah  upon  her,  the  humiliation  of  her 
powerless  gods,  the  exhibition  of  the  triumphant  strength  of 
Jehovah.  Notice  in  reading  how  the  same  themes  appear 
again  and  again  with  varying  expression,  like  the  principal 
theme  of  a  symphony.  Watch  for  them  as  you  read:  the 
certainty  of  release,  Jehovah's  power,  the  call  to  faith.  Are 
there  other  ideas  prominent  enough  to  be  called  themes? 
Cyrus  is  mentioned  by  name  twice,  44.  28  and  45.  i  (some 
think  the  measure  of  verse  shows  the  last  to  be  an  in- 
terpolation). Many  other  references,  however,  are  made 
to  him  as  Jehovah's  instrument  in  the  destruction  of 
B&bylon.  In  ch.  48  a  series  of  verses,  2,  4,  5,  7-10,  11, 
16-19,  22,  with  their  sharp  denunciation  of  the  people, 
seem  out  of  harmony  with  the  rest  of  the  section,  and  may 
be  interpolations. 

Chapters  49  to  55  begin  with  a  further  passage  about  the 
servant,  49.  1-13,  emphasizing  the  idea  that  he  is  first 
despised,  then  triumphant.  The  passages  which  follow  play 
on  this  theme  of  the  present  humiliation  and  future  glory 
of  Israel.  In  this  portion  of  the  book  argument  ceases  and 
rhapsody  takes  its  place.  The  section  ends  with  three  pas- 
sages, each  unsurpassed  in  the  poetic  utterance  of  great 
ideas — 52.  13  to  53.  12,  suffering  crowned  with  glory,  in 
the  figure  of  the  servant ;  54,  suffering  crowned  with  glory, 
in  the  restored  Jerusalem;  55,  the  people  called  to  share  in 
this  coming  glory.  Note  what  a  splendid  climax  it  makes 
to  the  whole  section. 

Part  II.  Chapters  56  to  66.  When  Babylon  fell  the  He- 
brews with  many  other  exiles  were  allowed  to  return.  Only 
a  few  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  but  those  who  did 
carried  back  with  them  the  high  hopes  and  ambitions  which 
the  Second  Isaiah  had  expressed.  They  carried  back  also 
the  Jewish  literature  of  the  exile,  and  Ezekiel  and  the  Second 
Isaiah  were  read  in  the  reestablished  Jerusalem.  But  the 
splendid  predictions  of  the  glory  of  restored  Jerusalem  did 
not  come  true.    Indeed,  thev  must  have  seemed  little  better 


82  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

than  tragic  irony  to  the  discouraged,  poverty-stricken,  reU- 
giously  indifferent  people,  some  of  whom  were  evidently 
attracted  to  the  worship  of  gods  borrowed  from  their  pagan 
neighbors.  Such  continued  to  be  the  situation,  with  varying 
phases  of  temporary  encouragement,  from  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  exile,  536,  to  the  period  of  Nehemiah,  445.  In- 
deed, many  of  the  same  elements  lasted  for  long  years 
afterward.  The  prophetic  spirit  still  continued  to  move  men 
to  utterance,  and  one  group  of  prophetic  poems,  because  of 
its  many  affinities  to  Isa  40  to  55,  was  added  to  that  col- 
lection (56  to  66). 

Isa  56  to  66  is  often  called  the  Trito-Isaiah.  It  is  a  collec- 
tion of  poems  on  varying  subjects,  most,  if  not  all,  dating 
from  after  the  close  of  the  exile,  and  written,  not  in  Bab}lon, 
as  was  40  to  55,  but  in  Palestine.  While  there  is  a  certain 
unity,  it  is  possible  that  the  unity  is  of  a  school  of  writers 
rather  than  of  a  single  author.  Many  echoes  of  the  thought 
and  style  of  40  to  55  are  found,  so  that  formerly  it  was 
commonly  supposed  that  all  of  40  to  66  came  from  one 
hand.  The  difference,  however,  is  plain  in  subject,  style, 
purpose,  and  geographical  situation.  The  exact  date  is 
impossible  to  recover,  because  the  conditions  revealed  by  the 
poems  would  fit  into  many  periods  after  the  exile.  It  is  not 
certain  that  they  all  represent  the  same  date.  Some  would 
put  all  the  collection  about  450.  The  walls  of  Jerusalem 
were  still  unbuilt  (60.  10),  which  would  indicate  a  period 
before  Nehemiah,  under  whom  the  walls  were  erected.  The 
temple,  completed  in  516,  is  mentioned  (60.  7;  62.  9;  65. 
11;  66.  6),  but  the  people  are  despondent,  their  prosperity 
is  small,  their  religion  consists  largely  in  externals  and  even 
to  these  they  are  indifferent.  All  the  conditions  fit  into  a 
period  about  450.  Most  of  the  poems  show  a  feeling  of 
sadness.  The  times  are  evil.  The  present  generation  is 
not  equal  to  the  fathers.  Men  of  wealth  take  advantage  of 
the  poor,  and  once  again  the  social  problem  of  oppressive 
rich  and  oppressed  poor  arises.    The  literary  quality  of  these 


SECOND  ISAIAH  83 

poems  is  inferior  to  that  of  40  to  55,  though  there  is  often 
a  poetic  pathos  in  the  descriptions  of  the  present  situation, 
as  in  59.  The  poems  are  not,  however,  without  hope.  It 
cannot  be  that  God  will  mock  his  people  by  letting  his 
promises  fail;  and  so  the  poems  turn  from  the  present  city 
to  an  ideal  Jerusalem  in  the  future,  and  center  the  attention, 
not  so  much  on  its  political  and  material  glory,  though  that 
is  not  omitted,  as  on  its  holiness.  God  himself  will  be  its 
glory.  The  beautiful  picture  of  the  new  Jerusalem  in  Rev 
20,  21  is  based  upon  the  Trito-Isaiah.  Chapters  60  to  62 
contain  the  finest  expression  of  the  poet's  chastened  hope. 
The  subjects  of  the  different  poems  are  as  follows : 

1.  Ch.  56.  1-8.  All  who  keep  Jehovah's  Sabbath  to  be 
admitted  to  his  worship.  A  brief  protest  against  the  grow- 
ing Jewish  exclusiveness. 

2.  Chs.  56.  9  to  57.  21.  The  present  degradation  of  the 
people.  The  poem  ends  with  a  promise  of  future  purifica- 
tion (57.  14-21). 

3.  Ch.  58.  True  and  false  worship.  This  poem,  hke  the 
first,  shows  the  poet's  interest  in  the  Sabbath. 

4.  Ch.  59.  Present  sin  and  future  holiness.  A  dramatic 
presentation,  in  which  the  poet's  denunciation  is  followed  by 
the  people's  ideal  confession  (9-15),  and  the  promises  of 
Jehovah's  favor  (16-21).  Some  think  vv.  3-15  are  taken 
from  a  pre-exilic  prophet,  because  the  sins  denounced  are 
like  those  of  the  time  of  Jeremiah. 

5.  Chs.  60-62.  The  new  Jerusalem.  A  glowing  picture 
of  the  national  hope.  Notice  how  the  ideas  rest  upon  the 
predictions  of  Jerusalem's  future  glory  in  Isa.  40  to  55, 
but  with  even  greater  emphasis  on  the  conception  of  the 
nation's  holiness. 

6.  Ch.  63.  1-6.  Jehovah's  vengeance  upon  Edom.  This  is 
a  bloodthirsty  poem,  full  of  hatred  and  revenge,  the  only 
passage  in  this  section  which  is  barbaric.  The  prophet 
glories  in  the  vision  of  Jehovah  coming,  his  garments  drip- 
ping with  the  life  blood  of  Edom.    Compare  Obadiah. 


84  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

7.  Chs.  63.  7  to  64.  12.  Thanksgiving  for  ancient  days ; 
confession  of  present  sin.  A  beautiful  poem,  whose  object 
is  to  move  the  people  to  penitence. 

8.  Chs.  65  and  66.  Promises  to  the  faithful ;  threats  to  the 
apostates.  The  contrast  between  the  two  classes  is  sharply 
drawn,  with  blessing  for  one  and  doom  for  the  other. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  List  the  main  themes  in  Isa  40  to  48. 

2.  Make   a   careful   outline,    showing  the   progress    of   thought    in 

Isa  40  to  44.  How  does  the  argument  lead  to  the  thought 
of  consolation? 

3.  What  are  the  differences  of  style  between  Isaiah  and   Second 

Isaiah?  Use  for  comparison  40  to  44,  and  one  of  the  sermons 
of  Isaiah,  as  10.  5-34. 

4.  What  is  the  prophet's  attitude  toward  idolatry,  40.    18-20;  41. 

6,  7;  44.  9-20;  46.   1-7.     Why  such  scorn  of  idolatry? 

5.  What  passages  show  that  the  prophet  is  a  strict  monotheist? 

6.  List  the  main  themes  of  49  to  55.     Compare   those   of   40  to 

48. 

7.  Write  out  a  summary  of  the  servant  passages,  42.  1-4;  49.  1-6; 

50.  4-9;  52.  13  to  53.  12.    What  are  the  qualities  of  the  servant 

(a)  in  the  present,  (b)  in  the  future? 

8.  What  is  meant  by  the  servant?     Is  it  (a)  the  nation  of  Israel, 

(b)  the  prophetic  party  in  Israel,  who  suffered  for  their  reli- 
gion, (c)  some  historic  personage,  who  represented  the  ideal 
of  this  party,  like  Jeremiah,  (d)  an  ideal  figure,  representing 
all  or  a  part  of  Israel,  (e)  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  an- 
other of  these  conceptions? 

9.  Paraphrase  chs.  52.   13  to  53.   12  fully.     Study  it  as  a  literary 

expression  of  the  idea  of  suffering  for  others. 

10.  What  are   the   main   themes   in   56  to  66    (more    fully  than   is 

given  in  subjects  of  the  poems  above).  Compare  themes 
of  40  to  55. 

11.  Paraphrase  ch.  61,  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  out  the  meaning 

of  the  passage. 

12.  What  passages  deal   with  the   Sabbath?     What  is  the  writer's 

position?  Had  prophecy  emphasized  the  Sabbath  before? 
What  conclusions  about  the  growth  of  ritual  ? 

13.  Compare  the  style  of  chs.  56  to  66  with  chs.  40  to  55.    Are  there 

any  differences? 


SECOND  ISAIAH  85 

14.  Judged  as  literature,  what  is  the  finest  passage  in  Isa  40  to  66? 

What  are  its  literary  qualities? 

15.  What   religious   results   did  the  authors  of  Second   Isaiah   wish 

to  attain? 

16.  What  great  religious  ideas  of  permanent  value  do  they  present? 


CHAPTER  X 

HAGGAI,  ZECHARIAH,  AND  OBADIAH 

In  538  Cyrus,  the  king  of  combined  Media  and  Persia, 
took  Babylon.  The  anticipations  of  the  Second  Isaiah  were 
fulfilled.  The  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  had  deported  the 
leading  classes  of  rebellious  provinces,  and  this  policy  had 
filled  Babylonia  with  disafifected  peoples.  Cyrus  saw  the  evils 
of  such  a  situation,  and  sought  to  win  loyalty  by  allowing 
those  who  so  desired  to  go  back  to  their  ancestral  countries. 
Some  of  the  Jews  took  advantage  of  the  ofifer.  According 
to  the  story  in  Ezra  2,  over  forty-two  thousand  went  back, 
but  Ezra  was  compiled  much  later,  and  exaggerates  the 
number.  At  most,  the  number  was  not  very  large,  nor 
was  it  composed  of  the  best  and  most  stable  elements  of  the 
nation.  After  a  residence  of  fifty  years,  family  ties  and 
business  obligations  made  removal  impossible  for  many  of 
the  people.  Besides,  most  of  them  had  been  born  in  Babylo- 
nia, and  a  movement  from  that  center  of  civilization  to  a 
barren,  hilly,  and  remote  province  was  not  attractive,  even 
if  Palestine  was  the  ancestral  home.  According  to  the  story 
in  Ezra,  the  people  began  enthusiastically  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions for  the  temple.  The  Samaritans  requested  to  be 
allowed  to  join,  but  were  refused,  and  in  revenge  procured 
a  government  order  stopping  the  building.  For  sixteen 
years  nothing  further  was  done.  The  people  were  discour- 
aged. The  government  was  no  longer  so  favorable  as  at  the 
beginning.  From  all  sides  foreign  settlers  had  crowded  in 
upon  the  most  desirable  locations.  Few  Jews  came  back 
from  Babylon  to  join  the  colony.  Those  who  had  been 
reared  in  the  rich  plain  of  Babylonia  found  agriculture  on 
the  limestone  hills  of  Judaea  a  difificult  labor.  A  series  of 
years  of  famine  had  completed  the  tale  of  discouragements. 

86 


HAGGAI,  ZECHARIAH,  AND  OBADIAH        87 

Neither  the  old  Hebrew  population  nor  the  new  colonists 
from  Babylonia  seem  to  have  been  of  very  heroic  mold, 
and  a  settled  despondency  became  prevalent. 

In  521  Darius,  a  member  of  a  branch  of  Cyrus's  house, 
overcame  a  pretender  who  had  held  the  throne  for  a  time, 
and  won  the  kingdom.  For  two  years  he  was  occupied  with 
uprisings  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Meantime  in  the  gen- 
eral turmoil  the  insignificant  province  of  Judah  received 
little  attention.  The  people  could  at  least  rely  upon  being 
unmolested.  This  confusion  was  the  Jews'  opportunity, 
and  two  prophets  showed  them_  how  they  might  improve  it  by 
at  last  building  the  temple. 

Nothing  is  known  of  the  personality  of  Haggai.  His 
book,  which  is  written  in  the  third  person,  is  plain,  simple, 
practical,  very  barren  of  the  graces  of  style,  and  occupied 
entirely  with  one  idea,  the  necessity  of  building  the  temple. 
Almost  as  little  is  known  of  Zechariah.  He  is  thought  to 
be  a  younger  man  than  Haggai,  the  first  message,  i.  1-6, 
showing  something  of  the  impatience  of  youth.  He  is  more 
imaginative,  and  his  book  deals  with  a  broader  range  of 
ideas,  though  his  immediate  interest  is  also  in  the  temple. 
The  effect  of  contact  with  Babylonia  is  shown  here,  as  in 
Ezekiel,  by  the  exact  dates.  The  work  of  the  two  prophets 
overlaps,  as  the  following  table  shows.  The  years  are  in  the 
reign  of  Darius. 

Year       Month       Day 

Haggai  i.  i-ii 2  6  i 

Haggai  i.  12-15 2  6  24 

Haggai  2.  1-9 2  7  21 

Zechariah  i.  1-6 2  8 

Haggai  2.  10-23 2  9  24 

Zechariah  i.  7  to  6.  15 2  11  24 

Zechariah  7.  i  to  8.  23 4  9  4 

In  August,  520,  Haggai  spoke,  perhaps  at  a  feast,  urging 
the  people  to  build  the  temple.  He  affirmed  that  the  drought 
had  been  sent  as  a  punishment  for  their  selfish  neglect. 
Three  weeks  later  the  people  began  to  build  the  temple. 


88  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

Haggai  had  succeeded,  and  seven  weeks  after  his  first  ser- 
mon, in  September,  520,  he  encouraged  the  workers  with  a 
glowing  forecast  of  the  importance  of  the  new  temple. 

In  the  month  after  Haggai's  second  address  Zechariah 
appeared.  His  first  address  seems  to  show  the  impatience 
of  youth  with  the  natural  pessimism  of  the  old.  They,  he 
felt,  were  hindering  the  work  by  comparisons  of  this  temple 
with  the  former.  They  must  leave  the  dead  past  for  the 
living  present,  and  heed  the  lesson  of  the  failure  of  their 
ancestors  to  listen  to  God's  message. 

In  the  next  month,  November,  520,  Haggai  spoke  twice 
in  one  day.  The  past  neglect  of  the  worship  of  God  was 
really  profanity,  and  they  had  come  to  poverty  because  of 
it  (2.  10-19).  In  the  coming  great  kingdom  Zerubbabel 
will  be  the  Messianic  prince  (2.  20-23). 

Two  months  later  is  dated  the  longest  and  most  interesting 
of  this  group  of  oracles.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  cycle  of 
visions.  Haggai  had  prophesied  that  the  nation  would  be 
shaken.  Perhaps  the  impatient  people  had  begun  to  question 
when  that  was  coming.  "Not  yet,"  said  the  prophet.  "Israel 
must  first  be  prepared."  Jehovah  protects  Israel  (Zech  i. 
18-21)  ;  he  will  yet  make  Jerusalem  too  great  for  any  circle 
of  walls  that  might  now  be  built  (2.  1-5).  Criticism  of  the 
leaders  must  cease,  for  Jehovah  stands  behind  them  (chs. 
3,  4),  commercial  dishonesty  must  disappear  (ch.  5),  and 
then  Jehovah  will  bring  in  his  kingdom,  and  the  leaders 
of  Israel  shall  be  its  princes  (ch.  6).  This  section  is  an 
example  of  the  use  of  vision  as  a  literary  device. 

Two  years  later  a  question  about  fasts  gives  opportunity 
to  discuss  true  and  false  worship  and  their  results  (chs. 
7  and  8). 

The  people,  few  and  poor  though  they  were,  pushed  for- 
ward the  building  of  the  temple.  At  the  end  of  four  years 
it  was  finished.  These  prophets,  barren  in  style,  common- 
place in  thought,  working  among  a  discouraged  people, 
accomplished  what  they  set  out  to  do  with  better  success 


HAGGAI,  ZECHARIAH,  AND  OBADIAH        89 

than  did  the  greater  prophets  of  the  earher  age.  Their 
aim  was  lower ;  it  is  easier  to  build  a  temple  than  to  reform 
a  nation.  At  the  same  time,  in  the  period  of  Haggai,  a 
temple  was  a  necessary  rallying  point  for  the  religion  of 
Israel. 

Zech  9  to  14  is  composed  of  two  sections,  chs.  9  to  11, 
and  chs.  12  to  14,  each  of  which  has  a  distinct  title.  They 
have  no  relation  to  each  other  or  to  Zechariah.  They  are 
small,  independent  prophecies,  and  if  they  had  not  been 
anonymous,  would  probably  have  formed  separate  books. 
They  seem  to  be  among  the  latest  products  of  prophecy, 
at  least  in  their  present  form.  Reference  to  Greece  (9.  13), 
unless  it  is  editorial,  would  place  at  least  parts  of  9  to  ii 
after  Alexander's  invasion  of  the  east  in  333  B.  C. 

Obadiah 

The  little  prophecy  of  Obadiah  is  the  smallest  portion  of 
literature  which  retained  its  independence  as  a  "book"  in 
the  Old  Testament.  We  have  seen,  however,  that  there 
are  shorter  independent  fragments  of  prophecy  embedded 
in  other  books.  This  prophecy  might  as  well  be  anonymous 
as  those,  for  we  know  nothing  about  the  author  except  his 
name.  The  subject  is  clear.  It  is  a  threat  of  disaster  upon 
Edom  (i  to  9)  because  of  the  barbarity  which  that  tribe, 
for  ages  hereditary  foes  of  Judah,  showed  when  the  Babylo- 
nians took  Jerusalem  (10  to  14).  The  last  section  of  the 
book,  15  to  21,  extends  the  principle  of  punishment  for  sin 
to  other  nations.  The  date  of  at  least  10  to  14  is  fixed, 
by  the  reference  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  as  soon  after  586. 
Puzzling  questions  arise  when  it  is  seen  that  i  to  9  is  found 
also  in  Jer  49.  14  to  16,  9,  10,  7,  with  variations.  The  form 
in  Obadiah  seems  to  be  more  original,  yet  Jer  49  belongs 
to  a  portion  of  the  book  which  is  earlier  than  the  exile. 
Various  solutions  have  been  offered :  ( i )  Both  copy  from 
an  older  prophecy.  (2)  Jer  49  is  not  in  its  original  form, 
but  has  been  expanded  on  the  basis  of  Obadiah.     (3)  Oba- 


90  THE   BIBLE  AS   LITERATURE 

diah,  as  we  have  it,  is  expanded  from  a  simpler  form  by 
borrowing  from  various  sources.  If  that  is  the  case,  the 
final  edition  of  the  book  may  be  much  later  than  586. 

The  ethical  feeling  of  the  book  is  clear.  There  is  no  spirit 
of  "love  your  enemies."  The  feeling  represented  is  like 
that  in  Nalium,  an  exultation  in  the  thought  of  the  over- 
throw of  enemies.  Many  passages  in  the  Bible  show  a  bitter 
feud  between  Hebrews  and  Edomities.  At  the  overthrow 
of  Jerusalem  the  Edomites  had  openly  exulted,  and  had 
watched  the  mountain  passes  to  capture  and  deliver  to  the 
Babylonians  any  helpless  Hebrew  fugitives  whom  they 
might  find,  and  we  can  easily  account  for  the  indignation 
of  the  prophet.  The  denunciation  has  its  religious  element. 
Sin  brings  suffering,  and  Jehovah  will  surely  not  let  this 
evil  go  unpunished.  The  spirit,  though  religious,  is  bar- 
baric, but  can  it  not  be  paralleled  in  the  feeling  of  many  a 
modern  Christian  nation  toward  its  hereditary  foes? 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Make  a  summary  of  the  messages  of  Haggai,  more  fully  than  is 

given  in  the  text. 

2.  What  is  the  meaning  of  each  of  the  visions  of  Zechariah?    Were 

they  real  visions,  or  devices  for  literary  effect  ? 

3.  The  main   subjects  of  Zech  9  to    11,   12   to    14.     What  is  the 

picture  of  the  future  of  Jerusalem  in  14? 

4.  Compare  the  style  of  these  prophets  with  the  pre-exilic  prophets 

as  to  beauty  and  force. 

5.  Compare   the   emphasis   on   morals   in   these   prophets   with   the 

emphasis  in  Amos  and  Hosea. 

6.  Read  Obadiah,  and  compare  its  spirit  with  that  of  Nahum. 


CHAPTER  XI 
MALACHI  AND  JOEL 

The  enthusiasm  which  arose  from  building  the  temple, 
under  the  impulse  given  by  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  lasted 
for  only  a  little  while.  Those  prophets  had  promised  revo- 
lutions and  triumph  to  Israel  and  the  glory  of  the  temple. 
They  had  expected  this  soon,  and  had  indicated  the  gov- 
ernor, Zerubbabel,  as  the  prince  of  the  new  Jewish  kingdom. 
The  people  had  accepted  these  promises  literally,  and  de- 
manded an  immediate  and  literal  fulfillment.  That  fulfill- 
ment did  not  come.  Instead  of  glory,  there  was  only  the 
old  struggle  with  poverty  and  famine  at  home  and  with 
unfriendly  neighbors  abroad.  The  worship  in  the  temple, 
built  with  so  much  enthusiasm,  became  a  burden  heavy 
to  bear.  They  begrudged  the  animals  for  sacrifice.  No 
one  would  serve  in  the  temple  except  for  pay.  They  lost 
faith  in  Jehovah  and  planned  to  insure  safety  by  combining 
with  the  nations  about.  Samaritans,  Philistines,  Idumeans, 
and  Arabs  had  pressed  into  Judaean  territory,  and  the  Jews 
won  their  friendship  by  intermarrying  with  them.  The  people 
grew  discouraged  with  their  national  religion.  Jehovah 
seemed  never  to  reward  his  worshipers,  and  they  began 
to  question  whether  there  was  any  profit  in  serving  him. 

From  some  time  during  this  period  of  discouragement 
comes  the  book  of  Malachi.  We  know  nothing  of  its  author, 
not  even  his  name.  The  word  "Malachi"  means  "my  mes- 
senger," and  is  placed  in  the  title  because  of  its  use  in  3.  i. 
The  book  is  anonymous,  and  is  one  of  the  three  appendices 
added  to  the  P)Ook  of  the  Twelve  Prophets  (compare  the 
editorial  titles  in  Zech  9.  i ;  11.  i  ;  Mai  i.  i).  The  date  can 
only  be  determined  by  the  general  historical  background. 
The  book  of  Nehemiah  shows  that  the  same  condition  pre- 

91 


92  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

vailed  in  his  time.  The  date  of  Neheniiah's  visit  to  Jeru- 
salem is  444.  The  date  of  Ezra's  visit  is  uncertain ;  the 
traditional  dating  is  458,  but  it  may  be  as  late  as  390.  An 
approximate  date  for  Malachi  is  475,  though  the  exact  date 
might  be  earlier,  or  even  as  late  as  440. 

The  book  is  different  from  any  other  prophecy.  The 
author  is  partly  scribe.  He  cares  much  for  the  temple 
service  and  the  ritual  law.  It  is,  unlike  earlier  books,  a  tract 
rather  than  a  sermon.  Its  style  is  prosaic,  very  plain  and 
simple.  It  has  one  peculiarity  of  style ;  the  argument  pro- 
ceeds by  a  dialectic  of  question  and  answer.  As  the  Platonic 
dialogue  reflects  the  free  discussion  within  the  groves  of 
Athens,  so  perhaps  this  dialectic  reflects  the  rabbinical  discus- 
sions. The  method  of  argument  is  not  intended  to  produce 
knowledge  but  to  secure  action.  It  is  not  so  much  instruc- 
tion as  assertion.  The  book  has,  in  its  simplicity  and  direct- 
ness, the  force  of  an  earnest  utterance  strongly  expressed. 

The  book  is  divided  into  seven  parts : 

Part  I.  Ch.  I.  1-5  states  the  general  principle  of  the 
book ;  God  loves  Israel. 

Part  II.  Chs.  i.  6  to  2.  9:  Israel  has  been  ungrateful  for 
his  love.  Both  priests  and  people  have  found  his  worship  a 
burden  and  have  tried  to  outwit  Jehovah,  as  though  he 
were  a  hard  master. 

Part  III.  Ch.  2.  io-i6:  They  have  made  foreign  mar- 
riages, for  some  of  which  it  was  necessary  even  to  divorce 
Hebrew  wives. 

Part  IV.  Chs.  2.  17  to  3.  6:  They  question  whether 
the  wicked  ar'e  not  as  well  off  as  the  good ;  but  Jehovah 
will  show  them  the  difference  in  his  day  of  judgment. 

Part  V.  Ch.  3.  7-12.  The  people  have  deprived  Jehovah 
of  his  dues ;  he  has  deprived  them  of  prosperity.  If  they 
change  their  attitude,  he  will  change  his. 

Part  VI.  Chs.  3.  13  to  4.  3:  repeats  the  thought  of  Part 
IV. 

Part  VII.    Ch.  7.  4-6  is  the  conclusion.   Doubtless  Jehovah 


MALACHI  AND  JOEL  93 

will  turn  the  people  to  himself,  but  it  can  be  by  no  ordinary 
means.  They  are  so  sunk  in  discouragement  that  only  a 
great  prophet,  like  EHjah  of  old,  could  lift  them  out  of  it. 
Is  Malachi  himself  discouraged  by  the  situation? 

Joel 

If  Malachi  is  to  be  dated  before  644,  his  work  was  fol- 
lowed soon  after  by  a  vigorous  reform.  Nehemiah  built 
the  city  walls,  and  tried  to  inspire  the  disheartened  people 
with  courage.  He  brought  about  the  dissolution  of  the 
foreign  marriages,  sending  back  the  foreign  wives  with  their 
children.  He  insisted  that  the  priestly  law  be  strictly  obeyed. 
Hebrew  tradition,  embodied  in  the  book  of  Ezra,  tells  how 
he  was  anticipated  in  this  reform  by  the  scribe  Ezra.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  there  was  a  great  reform  in  a  strictly  Puri- 
tan spirit.  But  such  religious  reforms  always  leave  a  large 
part  of  the  people  untouched  in  heart.  They  must  usually  be 
carried  through  by  force,  and  many  of  those  who  conform  do 
so  only  outwardly.  The  spirit  which  made  older  conditions 
possible  still  persists,  ready  to  spring  forth  on  occasion.  It 
was  so  in  the  England  of  Cromwell's  day,  and  also  in 
the  Judah  of  Nchemiah's  time.  Discouragement  and  distrust 
in  Jehovah  was  still  the  common  mood.  Evils  of  various 
sorts  were  frequent  in  the  nation.  The  people  still  needed 
reform,  and  they  needed  encouragement  even  more.  The 
growing  emphasis  on  the  element  of  encouragement  was 
one  of  the  means  which  gradually  transformed  prophecy 
into  apocalypse.  The  older  type  of  prophetic  literature, 
however,  with  its  emphasis  on  reform,  still  lingered  on. 
Malachi  does  not  mark  its  close.  The  fact  that  Malachi 
stands  at  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  English  Bible 
has  no  significance  as  to  its  relative  date.  Many  books  in 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  are  later  than  Malachi. 

The  date  of  the  book  of  Joel  has  been  subject  to  an  un- 
usual amount  of  controversy.  It  has  long  been  seen  that 
it  must  either  be  very  early  or  else  very  late,  for  it  has 


94  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

no  reference  to  Assyria  or  Babylonia,  nor  to  the  great  move- 
ments of  history  which  occupied  the  thought  of  the  prophets 
from  Amos  to  the  Second  Isaiah.  The  earlier  scholars 
placed  it  before  Amos ;  the  later  scholars,  on  the  ground  of 
language  and  historical  references,  after  the  exile.  Some 
would  put  it  before  Malachi,  or  about  his  time ;  some  put  it 
after.  A  good  approximate  date  is  about  350,  with  possibly 
some  insertions  from  a  later  time.  One  argument  for  dating 
it  later  than  Malachi  is  that  we  find  indifference  to  the 
temple  worship  replaced  by  a  great  interest  in  the  ofiferings. 

The  style  of  the  book  bears  many  resemblances  to  that  of 
the  earlier  prophecy.  Joel  was  a  careful  student  of  the 
older  prophetic  writings.  There  are  twenty  distinct  imita- 
tions or  quotations  of  those  writings,  ranging  over  almost 
the  entire  prophetic  field  from  Amos  to  Malachi,  and  there 
is  more  eloquence  and  vigor  than  in  the  other  postexiHc 
prophets. 

The  book  is  divided  into  two  parts. 

Part  I.  Ch.  I.  I  to  2.  17  is  a  call  to  a  fast  of  penitence.  The 
occasion  is  a  plague  of  locusts,  which  have  devastated  the  land. 
Ch.  2.  18  forms  the  transition  to  the  second  part.  The  people  repent 
and  Jehovah  forgives  them. 

Part  II.  Chs.  2.  19  to  3.  21  is  the  second  sermon.  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  army  of  locusts  will  be  followed  by  prosperity.  Then 
the  author  (or  an  editor)  passes  from  the  particular  to  the  general, 
and  promises  a  great  "day  of  Jehovah,"  with  an  immediate  personal 
communion  between  God  and  Israel,  and  the  destruction  of  all 
Israel's  foes  (2.  28  to  3.  21).  The  figures  of  this  section  were 
used  freely  by  later  apocalyptic  writers. 

TOPICS  AND     ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Read  Malachi,  making  an  analysis  of  the  argument. 

2.  Paraphrase  i.  6  to  2.  g. 

3.  Collect   the   examples   of   dialectic   in   the   book,    showing  what 

the  writer  wishes  to  prove  in  each  instance. 

4.  What  was  the  social  and  religious  condition  of  the  people  as 

shown  by  the  book? 


AlALACHI  AND  JOEL  95 

5.  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  author  toward  the  temple  and  the 

law?    Compare  earlier  prophets,  as  Isa  i.  10-17;  Amos  5.  21-24. 
Why  the  differences? 

6.  Make  an  analysis  of  Joel,  showing  the  order  of  thought. 

7.  What   is   Joel's   attitude   toward   the   temple    and   its    worship? 

Compare  Malachi. 

8.  Paraphrase  2.  28  to  3.  2,  interpreting  the  figures  into  their  mean- 

ing. 

'it 


THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE 


97 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE 

In  the  English  Bible,  one  of  the  largest  groups  of  books 
is  the  collection  usually  known  as  historical,  including  those 
from  Genesis  to  2  Chronicles,  with  the  exception  of  Ruth.  In 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  these  books  do  not  stand  together.  They 
are  arranged  in  three  groups:  the  Torah  (law)  which  is  the 
Pentateuch ;  the  Former  Prophets,  from  Judges  to  2  Kings ; 
and  the  books  of  Chronicles,  which  stand  at  the  very  end 
of  the  Bible,  with  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  which  stand  immedi- 
ately before  them.  The  books  are  as  various  as  their  places 
in  the  canon.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  simple,  popular  stories 
embodied  in  Genesis  to  the  artificial  view  of  history  which 
the  late  priestly  writer  of  Chronicles  presents.  They  contain 
the  earliest  and  also  almost  the  latest  products  of  Hebrew 
thought  in  the  Bible.  They  present  a  unity  in  two  respects: 
(i)  They  are  all  written  for  a  religious  purpose.  (2)  They 
are  all  written  by  compilation  from  earlier  writings.  This 
method  of  writing  may  be  seen  most  clearly  in  Chronicles, 
where  the  writer  has  used  as  one  of  his  sources  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  Kings.  Compare  i  Chron  21  and  2  Sam  24. 
Notice  how  the  author  has  not  rewritten  the  story,  but  has 
borrowed  it,  yet  with  changes.  Some  of  the  changes  are 
startling,  as  in  v.  i,  where  the  Chronicles  writer  ascribes  to 
Satan  what  his  source  ascribed  to  God.  Many  other  pas- 
sages will  show  the  same  kind  of  borrowing  with  changes. 
Compare  2  Chron  23  and  2  Kings  1 1 ;  2  Chron  28  and  2 
Kings  16.  In  other  cases  the  same  material  is  copied  into 
two  books  from  earlier  sources.  The  writers  of  Judges  and 
of  Joshua  have  used  the  same  source  in  Judg  2.  6-10  and 
Josh  24.  28-31,  but  with  change  of  order.     These  passages 

99 


loo  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

show  us  how  the  Hebrew  story  writers  worked ;  they  bor- 
rowed from  older  sources. 

Where  a  modern  writer  would  read,  assimilate  and  rewrite 
in  his  own  words,  the  Hebrew  writers  compiled,  copying  in 
part  word  for  word.  This  method  is  a  great  advantage  for 
the  literary  study  of  the  Bible,  because  it  enables  us  to  go 
back  of  the  books  themselves  to  the  earlier  sources  used, 
and  so  to  carry  our  study  of  the  literature  into  a  remoter 
antiquity. 

If  a  writer  used  two  or  more  sources  in  making  up  a  book, 
there  are  certain  results  which  we  should  expect,  (i)  We 
should  expect  duplicate  narratives,  with  occasional  slight 
discrepancies,  very  difficult  to  explain  if  it  all  came  from 
one  author,  quite  natural  if  it  came  from  different  sources. 
(2)  We  should  expect  varieties  of  style,  vocabulary,  and 
point  of  view  in  the  sources.  (3)  We  should  expect  to  be 
able,  by  means  of  characteristics  of  style,  vocabulary,  and 
point  of  view,  to  reconstruct  the  sources,  so  far  as  they  were 
used  by  the  author,  and  to  be  able  to  describe  their  content, 
literary  qualities,  and  purpose.  (4)  We  should  expect  to 
be  able  to  discover  the  matter  which  the  final  writer  had 
added,  if  any,  and  to  find  his  purpose  in  compiling  the  book. 
These  things  can  be  done  with  a  harmony  of  the  Gospels, 
or  with  Chronicles,  where  we  can  check  our  results  by  ex- 
amination of  the  sources  themselves.  In  the  case  of  Samuel, 
Kings,  and  the  earlier  books  of  the  Bible  we  have  no  sources 
available,  but  a  careful  reading  shows  all  the  qualities  of 
books  formed  by  compilation.  ( i )  We  find  duplicate  narra- 
tives, with  occasional  discrepancies.  There  are,  among 
many  other  duplicates,  two  narratives  of  creation,  of  the 
naming  of  Beersheba,  of  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea,  of 
the  crossing  of  Jordan,  of  the  choice  of  Saul  as  king;  and 
each  presents  certain  discrepancies  difficult  to  explain  if 
coming  from  one  writer,  but,  if  the  stories  come  from  dif- 
ferent sources,  creating  no  more  difficulty  than  do  kindred 
discrepancies  between  the  Gospel  narratives.     (2)  We  find 


THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE  loi 

that  these  duplicate  stories  differ  in  style,  vocabulary,  and 
point  of  view.  (3)  We  are  able  to  pick  out  by  means  of 
their  common  style,  vocabulary,  and  point  of  view,  those 
stories  which  must  have  come  from  the  same  source,  and 
in  that  way  to  reconstruct  large  portions  of  the  source,  and 
to  describe  its  qualities  and  its  point  of  view.  One  of  the 
stories  of  the  Flood,  for  example,  has  the  same  qualities  and 
uses  the  same  terms  as  Gen  i ;  the  other  the  same  as  Gen  2. 
Further  reading  shows  that  the  same  qualities  are  in  other 
narratives  and  that  one  group  of  stories  must  belong  to  the 
same  source  as  Gen  i ;  another  to  the  same  source  as  Gen  2. 
Putting  each  group  of  stories  together,  we  are  able  to  see 
the  characteristics  of  the  source  from  which  they  came,  and 
infer  the  purpose  of  the  author.  For  example,  compare 
the  picturesque  vividness  and  the  na'ive  simplicity  of  the 
conception  of  God  in  Gen  2  and  3,  and  11.  i-ii.  Are  they  not 
from  the  same  source  ?  Compare  the  repetitions  of  formulae 
in  Gen  i  and  5  and  Exod  i.  1-7.  Can  these  passages  be 
from  the  same  source  as  Gen  2  and  3?  Even  the  casual 
reader  sees  certain  striking  differences  between  the  groups. 
(4)  A  more  careful  study  reveals  certain  passages  where 
the  final  writer  has  made  changes,  often  to  join  the  separate 
stories  into  a  unity.  The  writer  of  Kings  has,  at  the  end 
of  each  reign,  named  his  sources.  Most  of  the  writers  leave 
their  sources  unnamed.  Present  scholars  designate  these 
sources  by  names  suggestive  of  some  of  their  characteristics. 
The  books  from  Genesis  to  Joshua  have  been  studied,  with 
regard  to  their  origin  and  sources,  longer  and  more  carefully 
than  any  other  portion  of  the  Bible.  Groups  of  stories  with 
the  same  style  and  purpose  can  be  traced  through  the  whole 
series  of  books,  showing  that  certain  sources  must  have 
been  used  throughout.  The  sources  used  in  the  compilation 
have  been  designated  as  follows : 

J,  a  prophetic  book,  using  Jahveh  (whence  the  name)  as  the 
name  of  God,  probably  written  in  Judah  to  leach  moral  and  reli- 
gious   truth.      Vivid,    picturesque,    clear,    a    very    fine    collection    of 


I02  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

stories,  with  a  little  law.  (Jahveh  is  translated  Lord  in  the  Eng- 
lish versions,  except  the  American  Revision,  where  it  is  Jehovah.) 

E,  a  prophetic  book,  using  Elohim  (whence  the  name)  as  the 
name  of  God  until  Exod  3.  14,  when  the  name  Jahveh  was  revealed 
to  Moses.  A  prophetic  book,  written  in  North  Israel  (Ephraim), 
and,  like  J,  teaching  moral  and  religious  lessons.  Its  style  is  in 
general  much  like  J  but  not  quite  so  vivid  and  picturesque.  (Elohim 
is  translated  God  in  the  English  versions.) 

P,  a  priestly  document,  using  Elohim  as  the  name  of  God 
until  Exod  6.  2,  when  the  name  Jahveh  is  revealed  to  Moses. 
The  writer  was  interested  in  the  ritual  and  the  laws.  The 
style  is  formal,  precise,  not  picturesque,  easily  distinguished  from 
J  and  E. 

D,  Deuteronomy.  This  book,  while  not  entirely  a  unitj^  is 
written  from  a  uniform  point  of  view  and  style.  It  deals  chiefly 
with  laws  and  customs,  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  the  worship 
of  Jehovah  alone,  and  is  full  of  exhortation  to  keep  "the  laws  and 
the  statutes  and  the  ordinances."  The  point  of  view  is  that  of  the 
prophet  turned  lawgiver.  The  style  is  repetitious,  persuasive, 
hortatory. 

In  addition  to  the  four  sources,  the  editors  who  compiled  the 
books  have  inserted  some  phrases  of  connection  and  made  certain 
changes  and  substitutions  in  the  interests  of  smoothness  of  narra- 
tion.    The  additions  of  the  editors  are  called  R  (Redactor). 

The  date  of  the  sources  can  be  fixed  only  approximately. 
J  was  written  soon  after  the  division  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  which  followed  the  death  of  Solomon.  Its  date  may 
be  900.  E  bears  marks  of  a  little  later  development  of 
thought.  It  is  usually  placed  at  850,  a  century  before  the 
work  of  Amos.  Some  time  within  the  next  century  the  two 
were  compiled  into  one  book,  known  as  JE,  by  an  editor 
(Rje).  The  nucleus  of  Deuteronomy  was  brought  into 
prominence  in  621  and  was  perhaps  written  within  the  half 
century  preceding.  P  was  the  slow  growth  of  centuries,  but 
took  final  form  in  the  period  after  the  exile,  before  450. 
Editors  working  in  the  spirit  and  style  of  D  (Rd)  and  of 
P  (Rp)  made  notes  and  additions  to  many  parts  of  the  text. 
Their  work  may  be  discovered  by  characteristics  of  style  and 
thought.    The  whole  was  compiled  into  a  single  work  before 


THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE  103 

444,  for  at  that  date  it  was  brought  into  Palestine  from 
Babylonia,  and  made  the  official  law  book  of  the  nation. 

As  the  same  sources  seem  to  run  through  the  six  books 
from  Genesis  to  Joshua,  and  the  books  have  also  a  common 
purpose,  they  are  now  often  taken  together  and  called  the 
Hexateuch. 

The  editors  who  made  the  Hexateuch  were  religious 
patriots  filled  with  the  prophetic  spirit.  They  were  disciples 
of  Ezekiel  and  the  Second  Isaiah.  They  wished  to  keep 
Israel  faithful  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah  amid  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  postexilic  period.  Instead  of  preaching  sermons, 
however,  they  turned  their  thought  back  toward  the  past.  If 
Israel  could  only  realize  how  their  very  existence  as  a  nation 
was  due  to  Jehovah,  they  would  surely  see  that  the  national 
life  could  not  proceed  without  him.  The  nation  already 
possessed  books  which  told  the  story.  These  might  easily 
be  interwoven,  and  so  edited  as  to  teach  the  great  lesson 
of  the  nation's  relation  to  its  God. 

The  object  of  the  compilers  was  primarily  not  to  narrate 
history,  nor  to  preserve  ancient  legends  and  traditions,  but 
to  teach  the  religious  lesson  that  God  guided  the  foundation 
of  Israel.  This  purpose  is  not  seen  if  one  reads  only  stories 
here  and  there,  but  it  becomes  clear  when  the  outline  of 
the  Hexateuch,  as  a  whole,  is  considered.  Genesis  gives 
stories  of  the  tribal  beginnings  of  the  nation,  telling  how 
God  guided  their  ancestors  through  good  and  ill,  till  at 
last  they  were  brought  to  Egypt.  Exodus  begins  with  a  turn 
of  fortune  which  left  the  Hebrews  slaves  in  Egypt,  but  tells 
how  God  led  them  out  and  gave  them  laws  and  a  ritual  in 
the  wilderness  south  of  Palestine.  Leviticus  is  entirely  occu- 
pied with  laws.  Numbers  narrates  the  tradition  of  a  genera- 
tion spent  in  the  wilderness,  of  further  laws  divinely  given, 
and  of  the  approach  to  Palestine  through  the  land  east  of 
the  Jordan.  Deuteronomy  is  a  further  collection  of  laws 
with  the  tradition  of  the  death  of  the  leader,  Moses,  at  the 
end.     Joshua   gives   the   tradition   of   the   divinely   guided 


I04  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

conquest  of  Palestine,  and  the  completed  work  leaves  the 
nation  in  possession  of  its  land.  All  the  periods  of  the 
formation  of  the  nation  have  been,  according  to  the  tradi- 
tions, guided  by  God.  The  story  of  the  past  had  its  lesson 
for  the  present.  If  God  so  guided  the  nation  in  the  past, 
should  they  not  serve  and  trust  him  now  ? 

The  writers  of  the  sources  J,  E,  D,  and  P  also  wrote  to 
teach  religious  lessons.  J  and  E  had  the  same  purpose.  It 
was  in  part  to  teach  the  same  lesson  that  the  final  editors 
later  had  in  mind — God  guided  the  formation  of  the  nation. 
In  part  it  was  the  general  lesson  of  the  early  prophets — sin 
brings  punishment.  This  is  the  main  point  of  the  stories  of 
Eden,  of  the  Flood,  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  and  of  Sodom. 
It  plays  a  large  part  in  the  cycles  of  stories  of  Jacob  and 
Joseph.  J  and  E  have  taken  old  stories,  and,  with  wonderful 
skill,  have  made  them  teach  religious  truth. 

The  purpose  of  the  writers  of  D  is  also  prophetic.  They 
had  been  impressed  with  the  danger  that  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  might  be  obscured  and  even  displaced  by  that  of 
other  gods.  The  book  of  Deuteronomy  throbs  with  a  pas- 
sionate desire  to  hold  the  people  to  the  worship  of  their 
national  God.  God's  care  for  them,  his  love  freely  given, 
the  appeal  to  the  sense  of  gratitude,  the  demand  for  holiness 
because  he  is  holy,  fill  the  book.  The  authors  say  nothing 
about  themselves,  but  the  book  speaks  strongly  of  their 
sense  of  God's  love  for  Israel,  and  their  confidence  that 
national  prosperity  is  inseparably  linked  with  his  worship. 

The  writer  of  P  also  had  a  religious  purpose.  To  him,  as 
a  priest,  religion  was  wrapped  up  in  the  ritual.  God  revealed 
himself  through  sacrifices  and  other  ceremonies  of  religion. 
He  had  given  the  people  a  law,  and  those  who  obeyed  the 
law  stood  near  to  him.  This  writer  also  turned  back  to  the 
ancient  stories  of  the  nation.  Here  lay  the  origin  of  the 
rites ;  and  he  retells  the  stories,  sometimes  briefly,  sometimes 
more  fully,  but  always  so  as  to  teach  the  lesson  of  a  growing 
revelation  of  God  through  rites  and  laws.    He  tells  how  the 


THE  BOOKS  OF  NARRATIVE  105 

Sabbath  originated,  how  the  law  of  "blood  for  blood,"  of 
circumcision,  and  at  last,  at  Sinai,  the  full  law  of  sacrifices 
came  into  being.  Into  these  stories  and  laws  he  wove  his 
conception  of  Jehovah's  demand  for  absolute  obedience. 

The  sources  from  which  these  writers  drew  their  material 
can  in  part  be  traced. 

P  used  the  stories  of  JE,  other  traditions,  written  and 
unwritten,  and  the  customs  and  laws  of  the  nation,  old  and 
new. 

D  also  knew  the  JE  stories,  while  the  restatement  of  the 
laws  is  based  on  the  older  legal  codes  of  the  nation,  some  of 
which  were  already  incorporated  in  J  (Exod  34.  14-26) 
and  E  (Exod  20  to  23). 

J  and  E  also  used  some  written  sources.  Previous  pro- 
phetic writers,  with  the  same  purpose  of  teaching  that  sin 
brings  punishment,  had  already  gathered  stories  of  the 
olden  times,  and  in  some  places  it  is  possible  to  see  that  J 
and  E  have  incorporated  tales  from  these  earlier  sources. 
They  can  be  distinguished  by  slight  differences  of  style  and 
content.  J  and  E  also  use  stories  not  previously  written. 
Of  course  all  go  back  ultimately  to  unwritten  stories,  as 
the  laws  go  back  ultimately  to  tribal  and  national  customs. 

Interesting  as  is  the  process  of  growth  of  a  collection  of 
ancient  stories,  the  original  stories  are  still  more  interesting. 
What  was  their  origin?  Plow  did  they  take  the  literary 
form  which  the  first  waiters  used?  For  what  purpose  were 
they  first  told?  In  what  does  their  attraction  lie?  These 
questions  arise  from  the  reading  of  any  ancient  collection 
of  tales. 

The  stories  have  various  origins.  Some  are  Babylonian 
tales.  We  have  from  Babylonia  kindred  stories  of  the 
Creation  and  the  Flood,  while  the  story  of  Babel  is  laid  in 
Babylonia. 

Some  are  stories  of  explanation — etiological  is  the  tech- 
nical word.  They  attempt  to  answer  the  question,  why? 
A  wide  variety  of  subjects  come  in:  (i)   Some  are  etymo- 


io6  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

logical,  and  explain  names  of  persons  or  places — Isaac, 
Reuben,  Israel,  Beersheba,  Bethel,  Jehovah.  Such  explana- 
tions of  names  are  common  the  world  over.  (2)  Some  are 
tribal,  designed  to  explain  the  relationship  of  tribes  to  each 
other.  They  tell  why  the  tribes  of  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
are  closely  affiliated,  why  Beersheba  and  Hebron  belong,  to 
Israel,  why  Ishmael  is  a  Bedouin  people,  and  why  Israel 
possesses  the  land  of  Canaan.  Such  legends  sometimes  have 
a  basis  in  history.  They  are  attempts  at  a  philosophy  of 
history.  When,  as  in  the  Hexateuch,  they  are  stories  told 
about  the  nation's  God  and  its  ancestral  heroes,  they  mark  a 
religious  and  patriotic  consciousness  which  is  worth  much 
for  the  most  valuable  things  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  (3) 
Some  are  historical  stories,  setting  forth  in  dramatic  form 
the  essential  facts  of  episodes  in  the  ancient  tribal  life, 
usually  putting  these  tribal  stories  into  the  form  of  personal 
history  attached  to  the  names  of  their  ancient  ancestors. 
Such  versions  of  tribal  history  are  frequent  also  in  the  Arabic 
tribes.  (4)  Some  are  stories  of  religious  rites  and  customs, 
telling,  among  other  things,  why  the  Sabbath  was  kept,  the 
feast  of  the  passover  celebrated,  the  holy  stone  at  Bethel 
anointed.  All  ancient  races  have  stories  explaining  the 
reasons  for  certain  rites  in  their  religions,  and  often  con- 
necting them  with  notable  persons  and  events  in  their 
history. 

The  permanent  value  of  these  ancient  stories  Hes  in  (i) 
their  literary  charm,  and  (2)  still  more  in  the  religious 
teaching  which  the  writers  have  infused  into  the  old  popular 
tales. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
GENESIS 

The  book  of  Genesis  is  divided  into  two  parts :  chs.  i 
to  II,  traditions  of  the  primeval  world;  chs.  12  to  50,  tradi- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  people.  In  the  first,  only  J  and  P  are 
represented.  E  seems  to  have  begun  his  book  not  with  the 
creation,  but  with  the  traditions  of  Abraham. 

The  stories  of  Genesis  came  from  various  sources.  Some 
are  the  stories  of  local  places ;  some  are  the  traditions  of 
tribes,  told  about  the  ancestral  heroes.  They  had  long  been 
told  orally  before  they  were  written  down.  Such  popular 
stories  soon  take  a  certain  literary  form,  usually  known  as 
the  folk-tale  form,  which  is  marked  by  simplicity,  directness, 
repetition,  and  often  climax  and  humor.  To  call  a  story 
a  folk-tale  is  not  to  pass  a  judgment  on  its  historical  value, 
but  only  to  classify  it  as  literature.  Folk-stories,  whether 
legend  or  history,  formed  the  best  material  for  religious 
teaching  which  an  early  race  possessed.  The  teachers  of 
many  races  have  so  used  their  ancient  tales,  but  none  have 
molded  them  into  as  rich  a  body  of  religious  truth  as  have 
the  writers  of  the  early  Hebrew  books. 

In  spite  of  the  variety  of  sources,  there  is  a  unity  of 
purpose  in  Genesis.  God  guiding  the  affairs  of  men  and 
fulfilling  His  plan  through  them,  is  the  main  religious  con- 
ception of  the  book. 

Part  I.  Traditions  of  the  Primeval  World,  Chapters 
I  to  2.  4a  (to  "when  they  were  created")  is  P's  story  of 
creation.  It  is  in  poetic  form,  each  stanza  beginning  and 
ending  with  the  same  formula,  and  furnishes  an  excellent 
introduction  to  the  study  of  the  P  document,  (i)  The 
conception  of  God  is  of  a  lofty  Being.  He  speaks,  and  it  is 
done.     The  author  is  careful  not  to  describe  him  in  human 

107 


io8  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

terms.  (2)  The  style  is  formal,  abstract,  legalistic,  precise, 
orderly,  repetitious.  It  is  not  picturesque.  It  does  not 
present  a  picture,  but  a  series  of  conceptions.  (3)  Notice 
the  striking  arrangement  in  divisions,  proceeding  from  the 
lower  to  the  higher.  The  culmination,  instead  of  being,  as 
we  might  expect,  the  creation  of  man,  is  the  appointment 
of  the  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  is  regarded  as  embedded  in 
the  creation.    Here  is  the  expression  of  the  priestly  purpose. 

Chapters  2.  4b  to  3.  24  ('Tn  the  day  that  Jehovah  created 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  then  the  earth,"  etc.),  the  second 
story  of  creation,  furnishes  the  best  introduction  to  the  style 
and  purpose  of  J.  (i)  God  is  described,  not  as  a  lofty  and 
distant  Being,  but  as  having  human  attributes.  He  experi- 
ments ;  he  walks  and  talks  with  men ;  he  discovers  what  has 
happened  by  inquiry;  he  is  intimate,  compassionate,  com- 
panionable. (2)  There  is  no  repetition,  no  formality  of 
style ;  the  story  is  picturesque  rather  than  abstract,  concrete 
rather  than  general.  There  are  explanations  of  names,  on 
the  basis  of  the  resemblance  of  their  sound  to  words  in  the 
current  Hebrew  of  the  writer's  time — Adam  (adainah, 
ground).  Eve  {liava,  to  live).  (3)  The  purpose  of  the  story 
is  found  in  the  prophetic  teaching  that  sin  brings  suffering. 
Chapters  4  and  5  present  further  parallels  between  J  and  P. 
Chapter  4  continues  the  story  of  J.  It  is  in  the  same  style, 
with  the  same  fondness  for  finding  a  meaning  in  ancient 
names,  the  same  conceptions  of  God  and  the  same  purpose 
of  showing  that  sin  brings  suffering. 

The  story  of  Cain  and  Abel  is  an  instance  of  J's  borrow- 
ing. It  does  not  belong  to  the  tale  of  the  first  family,  for  the 
earth  is  already  populated.  In  ch.  4.  20  Jabal  is  named  as 
the  "father  of  shepherds,"  to  the  exclusion  of  Abel.  This 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  editor  combined  the  tradition 
of  an  ancient  strife,  in  which  Cain  and  Abel  perhaps  repre- 
sent tribes,  with  a  genealogical  list.  Chapter  5  is  from  P. 
Contrast  its  rigid  formality  with  the  freedom  of  expression 
in  ch.  4. 


GENESIS 


109 


Chapters  6  to  9  contain  the  story  of  the  Flood.  The  story 
is  from  both  J  and  P,  but  interwoven,  instead  of  separate, 
as  in  the  creation  stories.  P  is  6.  9-22;  7.  6,  11,  i3-i6a, 
17-21,  24;  8.  i-2a,  3b-5,  13a,  14-19;  9-  i-i7>  28,  29,  and  a 
few  phrases  inserted  in  the  J  material  by  the  editor.  The 
remainder  is  J. 
THE  FLOOD  STORY  FROM 


6  5  And  Jehovah  saw  that  the 
wickedness  of  man  was  great  in 
the  earth,  and  that  every  imagi- 
nation of  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  was  only  evil  continually. 
And  it  repented  Jehovah  that  he 
had  made  man  on  the  earth,  and 
it  grieved  him  at  his  heart.  7  And 
Jehovah  said,  I  will  destroy  man 
whom  I  have  created  from  the 
face  of  the  ground;  both  man,  and 
beast,  and  creeping  things,  and 
birds  of  the  heavens;  for  it  re- 
penteth  me  that  I  have  made 
them.  8  But  Noah  found  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah. 

7  I  And  Jehovah  said  unto 
Noah,  Come  thou  and  all  thy  house 
into  the  ark;  for  thee  have  I  seen 
righteous  before  me  in  this  gen- 
eration. 2  Of  every  clean  beast 
thou  shalt  take  to  thee  seven  and 
seven,  the  male  and  his  female; 
and  of  the  beasts  that  are  not 
clean  two,  the  male  and  his  fe- 
male: 3  of  the  birds  also  of  the 
heavens,  seven  and  seven,  male 
and  female;  to  keep  seed  alive 
upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth. 
4  For  yet  seven  days,  and  I  will 
cause  it  to  rain  upon  the  earth 
forty  days  and  forty  nights;  and 
every  living  thing  that  I  have 
made  will  I  destroy  from  off  the 
face  of  the  ground.  5  And  Noah 
did  according  unto  all  that  Jeho- 
vah commanded  him. 

'7  And  Noah  went  in,  and  his 
sons,  and  his  wife,  and  his  sons' 
wives  with  him,  into  the  ark,  be- 

>  In  w.  7-10,  R  has  introduced  sev- 
eral phrases  from  P. 


THE  FLOOD  STORY  FROM 
P 

6  9  These  are  the  generations 
of  Noah.  Noah  was  a  righteous 
man,  and  perfect  in  his  genera- 
tions: Noa  walked  with  God. 
10  And  Noah  begat  three  sons, 
Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth.  1 1  And 
the  earth  was  corrupt  before  God, 
and  the  earth  was  filled  with  vio- 
lence. 12  And  God  saw  the  earth, 
and,  behold,  it  was  corrupt;  for 
all  flesh  had  corrupted  their  way 
upon  the  earth. 

13  And  God  said  unto  Noah, 
The  end  of  all  flesh  is  come  be- 
fore me;  for  the  earth  is  filled 
with  violence  through  them;  and, 
behold,  I  will  destroy  them  with 
the  earth.  14  Make  thee  an  ark 
of  gopher  wood;  rooms  shalt  thou 
make  in  the  ark,  and  shalt  pitch 
it  within  and  without  with  pitch. 
15  And  this  is  how  thou  shalt 
make  it:  the  length  of  the  ark 
three  hundred  cubits,  the  breadth 
of  it  fifty  cubits,  and  the  height  of 
it  thirty  cubits.  16  A  light  shalt 
thou  make  to  the  ark,  and  to  a 
cubit  shalt  thou  finish  it  upward; 
and  the  door  of  the  ark  shalt  thou 
set  in  the  side  thereof;  with  lower, 
second,  and  third  stories  shalt 
thou  make  it.  17  And  I,  behold, 
I  do  bring  the  flood  of  waters  upon 
the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh, 
wherein  is  the  breath  of  life,  from 
under  heaven;  every  thing  that  is 
in  the  earth  shall  die.  18  But  I 
will  establish  my  covenant  with 
thee;  and  thou  shalt  come  into  the 
ark,  thou,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy 
wife,  and  thy  sons'  wives  with 
thee.      19    And    of    every    living 


no 


THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 


cause  of  the  waters  of  the  flood. 
8  Of  clean  beasts,  and  of  beasts 
that  are  not  clean,  and  of  birds, 
and  of  every  thing  that  creepeth 
upon  the  ground,  9  there  went  in 
two  and  two  unto  Noah  into  the 
ark,  male  and  female,  as  God  com- 
manded Noah.  10  And  it  came 
to  pass  after  the  seven  days,  that 
the  waters  of  the  flood  were  upon 
the  earth.  12  And  the  rain  was 
upon  the  earth  forty  days  and 
forty  nights.  1 6  And  Jehovah  shut 
him  in. 

22  All  in  whose  nostrils  was  the 
breath  of  the  spirit  of  life,  of  all 
that  was  on  the  dry  land,  died. 

23  And  every  living  thing  was 
destroyed  that  was  upon  the  face 
of  the  ground,  both  man,  and  cat- 
tle, and  creeping  things,  and  birds 
of  the  heavens;  and  they  were  de- 
stroyed from  the  earth:  and  Noah 
only  was  left,  and  they  that  were 
with  him  in  the  ark.  2  And  the 
rain  from  heaven  was  restrained; 
3  and  the  waters  returned  from 
off  the  earth  continually: 

8  6  And  it  came  to  pass  at 
the  end  of  forty  days,  that  Noah 
opened  the  window  of  the  ark 
which  he  had  made:  7  and  he 
sent  forth  a  raven,  and  it  went 
forth  to  and  fro,  until  the  waters 
were  dried  up  from  off  the  earth. 
8  And  he  sent  forth  a  dove  from 
him,  to  see  if  the  waters  were 
abated  from  off  the  face  of  the 
ground;  9  but  the  dove  found  no 
rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  and 
she  returned  unto  him  to  the  ark; 
for  the  waters  were  on  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth:  and  he  put 
forth  his  hand,  and  took  her,  and 
brought  her  in  unto  him  into  the 
ark.  10  And  he  stayed  yet  other 
seven  days;  and  again  he  sent 
forth  the  dove  out  of  the  ark; 
II  and  the  dove  came  in  to  him 
at  eventide;  and,  lo,  in  her  mouth 
an  olive-leaf  plucked  off:  so  Noah 
knew  that  the  waters  were  abated 
from  off  the  earth.  12  And  he 
stayed  yet  other  seven  days,  and 
sent  forth  the  dove;  and  she  re- 


thing  of  all  flesh,  two  of  every 
sort  shalt  thou  bring  into  the  ark, 
to  keep  them  alive  with  thee; 
they  shall  be  male  and  female. 
20  Of  the  birds  after  their  kind, 
and  of  the  cattle  after  their  kind, 
of  every  creeping  thing  of  the 
ground  after  its  kind,  two  of 
every  sort  shall  come  unto  thee, 
to  keep  them  alive.  21  And  take 
thou  unto  thee  of  all  food  that  is 
eaten,  and  gather  it  to  thee;  and 
it  shall  be  for  food  for  thee,  and 
for  them.  22  Thus  did  Noah ;  ac- 
cording to  aU  that  God  com- 
manded him,  so  did  he. 

7  6  And  Noah  was  six  hundred 
years  old  when  the  flood  of  waters 
was  upon  the  earth. 

1 1  In  the  six  hundredth  year  of 
Noah's  life,  in  the  second  month, 
on  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
month,  on  the  same  day  were  all 
the  fountains  of  the  great  deep 
broken  up,  and  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  opened. 

13  In  the  selfsame  day  entered 
Noah,  and  Shem,  and  Ham,  and 
Japheth,  the  sons  of  Noah,  and 
Noah's  wife,  and  the  three  wives 
of  his  sons  with  them,  into  the 
ark;  14  they,  and  every  beast 
after  its  kind,  and  all  the  cattle 
after  their  kind,  and  every  creep- 
ing thing  that  creepeth  upon  the 
earth  after  its  kind,  and  every 
bird  after  its  kind,  every  bird  of 
every  sort.  15  And  they  went 
in  unto  Noah  into  the  ark,  two 
and  two  of  all  flesh,  wherein  is 
the  breath  of  life.  16  And  they 
that  went  in,  went  in  male  and 
female  of  all  flesh,  as  God  com- 
manded him:  17  And  the  flood 
was'  upon  the  earth;  and  the 
waters  increased,  and  bare  up  the 
ark,  and  it  was  lifted  up  above 
the  earth.  18  And  the  waters  pre- 
vailed, and  increased  greatly  upon 
the  earth;  and  the  ark  went  upon 
the  face  of  the  waters.  19  And  the 
waters  prevailed  exceedingly  upon 
the  earth ;  and  all  the  high  moun- 

'  "Forty  dajrs"  has  been  inserted  by  R 
from  the  story  of  J. 


GENESIS 


III 


turned  not  again  unto  him  any 
more.  13  And  Noah  removed  the 
covering  of  the  ark,  and  looked, 
and,  behold,  the  face  of  the  ground 
was  dried. 

'20  And  Noah  builded  an  altar 
unto  Jehovah;  and  took  of  every 
clean  beast,  and  of  every  clean 
bird,  and  offered  burnt-offerings 
on  the  altar.  21  And  Jehovah 
smelled  the  sweet  savor;  and  Je- 
hovah said  in  his  heart,  I  wUl 
not  again  curse  the  ground  any 
more  for  man's  sake,  for  that  the 
imagination  of  man's  heart  is  evil 
from  his  youth;  neither  will  I 
again  smite  any  more  every  thing 
living,  as  I  have  done.  22  While 
the  earth  remaineth,  seedtime  and 
harvest,  and  cold  and  heat,  and 
summer  and  winter,  and  day 
and  night  shall  not  cease. 

'  The  parallel  in  P  of  vss.  20-22  is  9: 
1-17. 


tains  that  were  under  the  whole 
heaven  were  covered.  20  Fifteen 
cubits  upward  did  the  waters  pre- 
vail; and  the  mountains  were  cov- 
ered. 21  And  all  flesh  died  that 
moved  upon  the  earth,  both  birds, 
and  cattle,  and  beasts,  and  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth,  and  every  man :  24  And 
the  waters  prevailed  upon  the 
earth  a  hundred  and  fifty  days. 

8  I  And  God  remembered 
Noah,  and  all  the  beasts,  and  all  the 
cattle  that  were  with  him  in  the 
ark:  and  God  made  a  wind  to 
pass  over  the  earth,  and  the 
waters  assuaged;  2  the  fountains 
also  of  the  deep  and  the  windows 
of  heaven  were  stopped,  3  and 
after  the  end  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
days  the  waters  decreased.  4  And 
the  ark  rested  in  the  seventh 
month,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 
the  month,  upon  the  mountains  of 
Ararat.  5  And  the  waters  de- 
creased continually  until  the  tenth 
month:  in  the  tenth  month,  on 
the  first  day  of  the  month,  were 
the  tops  of  the  mountains  seen. 

13  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the 
six  hundred  and  first  year,  in  the 
first  month,  the  first  day  of 
the  month,  the  waters  were  dried 
up  from  off  the  earth: 

14  And  in  the  second  month,  on 
the  seven  and  twentieth  day  of 
the   month,   was   the  earth   dry. 

15  And  God  spake  unto  Noah, 
saying,  16  Go  forth  from  the  ark, 
thou,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy  sons, 
and  thy  sons'  wives  with  thee, 
17  Bring  forth  with  thee  every 
living  thing  that  is  with  thee  of 
all  flesh,  both  birds,  and  cattle, 
and  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth ;  that  they 
may  breed  abundantly  in  the 
earth,  and  be  fruitful,  and  multi- 
ply upon  the  earth.  18  And  Noah 
went  forth,  and  his  sons,  and  his 
wife,  and  his  sons'  wives  with  him: 
19  every  beast,  every  creeping 
thing,  and  every  bird,  whatsoever 
moveth  upon  the  earth,  after  their 
families,  went  forth  out  of  the  ark. 


112  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

The  fact  that  there  are  two  stories  is  plain  from  (i)  repe- 
titions; all  the  main  points  of  the  story  are  told  twice;  (2) 
contradictions,  as  in  the  length  of  the  flood  and  the  number 
of  animals  taken  into  the  ark. 

The  stories  show  the  characteristic  dififerences  of  J  and 
P.  (i)  The  character  of  God.  In  the  J  story  he  repents 
that  he  has  made  man,  he  is  pleased  with  the  savor  of  a 
sacrifice,  and  promises  not  to  destroy  the  earth  again.  P  is 
less  anthropomorphic.  God  of  his  own  free  will  "establishes 
a  covenant"  with  man.  (P  tells  no  story  of  sacrifice  till 
after  the  revelation  of  the  law  of  sacrifice.)  (2)  The  same 
difference  of  style  is  seen  as  in  the  earlier  passages.  J  is 
more  picturesque;  P  more  abstract.  (3)  The  purpose 
differs.  J  has  transformed  the  old  Semitic  legend  of  a  flood 
so  that  it  leaves  the  strong  impress  of  a  moral  lesson — sin 
brings  suffering,  but  repentance  and  righteousness  bring 
the  fellowship  and  blessing  of  God.  P  uses  the  same  original 
story  to  lead  up  to  a  little  code  of  law,  given  by  the  free 
grace  of  God  to  undeserving  man  (9.  1-17).  Both  purposes 
are  religious,  but  with  characteristic  differences 

Chapter  10  is  a  table  of  nations,  arranged  in  genealogical 
form.  It  is  mostly  from  P,  but  vv.  8-19,  21,  25-30  are  J, 
with  some  R.  Notice  the  formula,  "the  sons  of,"  in  the  P 
section,  and  the  different  form  in  J. 

Chapter  11.  1-9  is  J's  story  of  the  origin  of  nations.  It 
is,  like  the  story  of  the  Flood,  an  old  Babylonian  legend. 
It  presents  the  characteristics  of  J  in  its  conception  of  God, 
its  style,  and  its  purpose.  Here  again  is  the  prophetic 
lesson  that  sin  brings  punishment.  The  separation  of 
language  and  nationality,  with  all  its  accompanying  jealousy 
and  strife,  was,  the  story  says,  due  to  the  arrogance  of 
men,  who  dared  the  wrath  of  God  by  presuming  to  build  a 
tower  that  should  reach  to  heaven.  The  old  mythological 
explanation  for  the  disaster  was  the  jealousy  of  the  gods, 
but   the    Hebrew    writer   has   turned    it   to   a    moral   use. 

Much  of  the  early  part  of  Genesis  is  undoubtedly  based 


GENESIS  113 

on  Babylonian  sources.  Kindred  stories  of  the  creation  and 
of  the  flood  are  found  on  Babylonian  tablets,  but  they  bear 
no  such  religious  teaching  as  the  versions  which  appear  in 
Genesis.  Among  all  the  early  myths  and  legends  of  the 
ancient  world,  these  stand  unique  for  the  permanent  reli- 
gious truths  which  they  embody. 

Part  II.  Traditions  of  the  Hebrew  Ancestors.  This 
portion  of  Genesis  presents,  on  the  whole,  the  finest  collec- 
tion of  Hebrew  stories  in  the  Old  Testament  Scripture. 
The  stories  are  connected  with  the  ancestors  of  the  nation, 
and  so  had  a  greater  interest  to  the  story-tellers  of  Israel  than 
those  of  the  first  section  of  Genesis.  The  great  majority 
of  them,  perhaps  all,  were  popular  tales  long  before  they 
were  compiled  by  the  editors  of  Genesis.  This  accounts 
for  their  compact  form,  their  picturesque  and  vivid  char- 
acter. Many  are  connected  with  certain  localities,  and  must 
have  originated  in  those  places.  They  are  explanations  of 
names  (two  of  Bethel,  two  of  Beersheba),  or  of  some 
physical  peculiarity,  like  the  story  of  the  destruction  of 
Sodom  to  explain  the  barrenness  of  the  Dead  Sea  region,  or 
they  tell  the  adventures  of  a  hero  at  a  certain  place.  Some- 
times they  explain  tribal  names  and  relations.  In  order  to 
understand  their  growth,  one  must  think  of  them  as  handed 
down  orally  for  generations  at  the  places  interested. 

In  reading  these  stories,  keep  in  mind  the  general  message 
of  the  Hexateuch — "God  led  the  ancestors  of  the  Hebrew 
nation  in  all  their  wanderings  and  at  last  brought  them  into 
the  land  of  Canaan ;  therefore  the  nation  ought  to  serve 
him,  and  him  alone."  Back  of  this  lies  the  message  found 
in  the  prophetic  and  priestly  sources,  so  that  we  may  often 
see  two  teachings ;  one  that  of  the  source,  the  other  that  of 
the  editor  who  combined  the  sources. 

I.  Stories  of  Abraham.  Chapters  12  and  13  are  J, 
except  12.  4b,  5  ;  13.  6,  i  ib,  12a,  which  is  P.  In  both  J  and  P 
Lot,  the  traditional  ancestor  of  ]\Ioab  and  Edom,  abandons 
all  claim  to   Canaan,   which  God  gives  to  Abraham,   the 


114  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

traditional  ancestor  of  Israel.  Notice  the  prophetic  idea  that 
righteousness  brings  reward.  Abraham  obeyed  the  call  of 
God,  he  dealt  unselfishly  with  Lot,  and  God  rewarded  him. 
In  the  midst  of  the  section  comes  the  strange  story  in  ch. 
12.  I0-20.  It  is  a  tale  of  cowardice  and  base  deceit,  which 
never  could  have  commanded  from  its  hearers  anything  but 
reprobation.  Moreover,  there  are  two  similar  narratives — 
chs.  20  and  26.  6-1 1.  These  stories  introduce  another 
thought  which  can  be  traced  in  many  parts  of  Genesis — God 
so  guides  that  even  the  sins  and  follies  of  men  work  out  his 
own  purpose.  Chapter  14  is  so  different  from  the  rest  of 
Genesis  in  style  and  content  that  it  is  supposed  to  belong  to 
neither  of  these  sources. 

Chapters  15  and  16,  mostly  J,  and  ch.  17,  P,  contain  two 
elements  of  interest.  One  is  God's  covenant  with  Abraham 
(chs.  15  and  17).  Note  that  ch.  15  is  more  picturesque  in 
style  than  ch.  17;  that  even  in  the  incidental  parts  of  ch.  15 
the  prophetic  point  of  view  appears — sin  brings  suffering 
and  faithfulness  brings  reward  (15.  14-16)  ;  that  the  cove- 
nant is  the  reward  of  faith  (15.  6),  and  is  confirmed  with  a 
sacrifice  (15.  9-17).  The  priestly  story  has  no  sacrifice, 
for  the  law  of  sacrifice  has  not  yet  been  revealed,  but  leads 
to  the  law  of  circumcision. 

Chapters  18  and  19  are  mostly  J.  Notice  the  picturesque 
form,  the  rapid  movement,  the  vivid  style,  the  prophetic 
teaching  that  sin  brings  punishment,  the  anthropomorphic 
conception  of  God,  as  in  Gen  2  and  3.  Chapters  20  to  22 
present  a  new  source,  which  has  appeared  before  only  in 
small  sections  in  ch.  15,  the  prophetic  source  E.  The  pur- 
pose of  E  is  much  like  J ;  it  has  the  same  conception  of  the 
close  relation  of  God  to  man ;  of  God  as  guiding  the  events 
of  life,  making  even  the  folly  of  men  serve  his  purpose ;  of 
sacrifice  as  known  from  immemorial  time.  The  style  is 
much  like  J — pictorial  and  vivid.  A  close  study  shows  it 
to  be  slightly  less  rapid  in  movement. 

Chapter  20  is  a  duplicate  of  J's  story  in  ch.   12.  2-20. 


GENESIS  115 

Chapter  21  is  the  dupHcate  of  the  tradition  given  by  J  in 
ch.  16.  Chapter  22  is  a  plea  against  the  not  uncommon 
Semitic  custom  of  human  sacrifice.  Chapter  23  is  another 
place-tale,  used  by  P  to  show  how  the  Hebrews  obtained 
their  first  possession  of  land  in  Canaan.  Chapter  24  is  J. 
Note  the  vivid  style,  the  series  of  rich  pictures  presented, 
the  human  nature  of  the  characters,  the  conception  of 
divine  guidance  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

The  early  part  of  Genesis  is  formed  of  separate  tales, 
somewhat  loosely  connected.  Even  the  stories  of  Abraham 
are  more  a  series  of  incidents  than  a  connected  narrative. 
The  latter  part,  chs.  25  to  50,  is  much  more  closely  inter- 
woven. It  consists  of  two  cycles  of  stories,  which  are  them- 
selves interlocked,  about  Jacob  and  Joseph.  The  separate 
tales  are,  as  their  style  shows,  popular  stories,  but  the  com- 
bination of  tales  into  a  cycle  marks  the  interest  in  develop- 
ment and  plot.  The  stories  of  Jacob  and  Joseph  approach 
the  novel  in  literary  form,  rather  than  the  shorter  popular 
tale. 

2.  The  story  of  Jacob,  so  far  as  it  is  independent  of 
Joseph,  lies  mostly  in  chs.  25  to  33.    It  is  largely  J  and  E. 

Read  and  observe  ( i )  the  literary  impression  of  each  inci- 
dent ;  the  vivid  pictures ;  the  insight  into  human  nature ;  the 
unconscious  characterization  of  different  types,  as  in  Jacob 
and  Esau ;  the  expression  of  tribal  relationships  with  the 
Esau  tribes  and  the  Arameans  of  Mesopotamia ;  the  pro- 
phetic conception  of  the  guidance  of  God;  (2)  the  impres- 
sion of  the  cycle  of  stories  as  a  whole ;  the  unity  of  plot, 
the  development  of  Jacob's  character  from  selfishness  toward 
unselfishness  by  the  discipline  of  life.  The  full  value  of  the 
cycle  can  be  seen  only  after  reading  the  stories  of  Joseph, 
with  which  the  stories  of  Jacob  blend. 

3.  The  cycle  of  the  stories  of  Joseph  is  in  chs.  37  and  39 
to  50.  These  also  are  mostly  from  J  and  E,  but  with  more 
from  P  than  in  the  previous  section.  Read,  noting  ( i )  the 
literary  impression  of  each  incident,  as  in  the  stories  of 


ii6  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Jacob;  (2)  the  impression  of  the  whole  cycle;  the  unity; 
the  element  of  romantic  contrast  between  the  shepherd  boy 
and  the  viceroy  of  Egypt;  the  rapid  shifting  of  scene;  the 
use  of  mystery  in  the  development  of  the  plot;  the  growth 
of  character  in  Joseph  from  the  imprudent,  egotistical  boy 
to  the  wise,  loving,  and  forgiving  man.  Here  also  comes 
the  full  development  of  Jacob's  character.  The  whole  is 
told  with  great  literary  charm  and  human  interest.  These 
qualities  belong  to  the  popular  story-telling  stage  of  these 
tales.  The  writers  of  Genesis  have  preserved  them  because 
they  showed  how  God  was  leading  the  ancestors  of  the 
nation,  and  made  a  direct  appeal  to  the  Hebrew  readers  to 
serve  the  God  of  their  fathers.  The  full  strength  of  this 
appeal  can  be  seen  only  when  Genesis  is  joined  to  the  suc- 
ceeding books  of  the  Hexateuch  and  all  are  taken  together. 
Genesis  was  never  designed  to  stand  alone. 


TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Make  a  list  of  passages  which  show  differences  of  (a)  content, 

(fc)    style,    in   Gen    i    to   3.     What   literary   excellencies   are 
found  in  each? 

2.  How  show  that  Gen  4  is  J  ? 

3.  One  verse  in  Gen  5  is  usually  assigned  to  J.     Read  the  chapter, 

and  see  which  it  is,  and  why. 

4.  List  words  and  phrases  showing  characteristics  of  J  and  P  in 

the  Flood  stories. 

5.  Read  the  Babylonian  story  of  the  Flood  and  compare  with  that 

of  the  Bible  story   (see  Rogers's  Cuneiform  Parallels  to  the 
Old  Testament). 

6.  Which  is  the  nearest  to  the  present  conception  of  God  as  the 

loving  Father,  the  conception  of  J  or  of  P? 

7.  What  elements  of  popular  story-telling  in   the   J   portions   in 

Gen  I  to  II? 

8.  What  were  the  scientific  conceptions  of  the  writers  of  Gen  1  ? 
g.     If  the   purpose   of   the   authors   of   Genesis   was   religious,   do 

problems  of  their  scientific  or  historical   accuracy  affect  the 
value  of  the  literature? 
10.     What  literary  characteristics  in  chs.  24,  27,  28,  and  43  to  45? 


GENESIS  117 

11.  How  does  the  story  of  Joseph  use  the  elements  of  contrast  and 

of  adventure  for  literary  interest? 

12.  From  a  literary  point  of  view,  what  is  the  best  single  story  in 

the  book  of  Genesis,  and  why? 

13.  Are    the    stories    of    Abraham,    Jacob,    and    Joseph    historical 

writings? 

14.  Which  stories  in  Genesis  bring  out  best  the  prophetic  teaching 

of  the  writers,  that  sin  brings  punishment ;  that  God  guided 
the  evolution  of  the  nation? 

15.  What    are    the    permanent    religious    values    of    the    book    of 

Genesis? 


CHAPTER   XIV 
EXODUS,   LEVITICUS,   NUMBERS,  AND  JOSHUA 

The  sources,  methods,  and  purpose  of  the  narrative  por- 
tions of  Exodus,  Numbers,  Leviticus,  and  Joshua  are  the 
same  as  in  Genesis.  Exod  i  to  19  contains  the  story  of  the 
youth  of  jMoses,  of  the  departure  from  Eg}-pt,  and  of  the 
journey  to  Mount  Sinai.  The  sources  are  J,  E,  and  P. 
They  may  be  distinguished  by  the  same  marks  as  in  Genesis. 
See  the  use  of  formula,  of  repetition,  and  of  abstract  state- 
ment in  I.  1-7;  2.  23-25,  in  contrast  with  the  picturesque 
style  of  3.  1-6.  From  what  sources  do  these  passages  come? 
In  this  section  occurs  the  revelation  of  the  name  Jahveh 
in  both  E  (5.  13-15.  The  writer  regards  Jahveh  as  the 
third  person  of  ehyeh,  "he  is")  and  P  (6.  2-8.  P  says 
plainly  that  the  name  Jahveh  was  not  known  before).  After 
this  E  uses  Jahveh  sometimes,  P  always.  When  this  dis- 
tinction between  the  sources  disappears,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  distinguish  J  and  E,  whose  general  characters  are 
much  alike. 

The  code  of  laws  commonly  known  as  the  "Book  of  the 
Covenant"  occurs  in  Exod  20  to  2^^  (E).  They  are  laws 
designed  for  a  simple  community  engaged  in  agricultural 
life.  They  are  concerned  with  religious  ceremonials,  per- 
sonal rights,  property,  and  slavery.  They  represent  a  people 
whose  ideals  include  justice,  kindHness,  and  religious  con- 
ceptions, but  which  has  as  yet  evolved  no  elaborate  ma- 
chinery, either  of  courts  or  of  religious  ritual.  Cases  are 
presented  "before  God"  for  judgment,  and  altars  of  earth 
may  be  built  in  any  sacred  place. 

Exod  25  to  31  is  a  long  account  of  the  instructions  to 
Moses  regarding  the  tabernacle,  and  chs.  35  to  40  tell  how 

118 


EXODUS,  LEVITICUS,  NUMBERS,  JOSHUA  119 

these  same  instructions  were  carried  out.  The  Hterary 
qualities  mark  the  sections  as  P.  Between  them  Hes  a  JE 
narrative  which  embocHes  an  interesting  and  very  primitive 
Httle  code  of  laws,  probably  originally  a  decalogue,  assigned 
to  J  (34.  11-26). 

Leviticus  is  all  from  the  priestly  source,  P.  The  book 
shows  the  priestly  conception  of  the  origin  of  worship  in 
Israel  up  to  this  point.  P  has  made  no  mention  of  sacrifices ; 
there  could  be  no  sacrifice  till  God  had  prepared  a  place 
and  given  the  laws.  But  now  that  the  tabernacle  and  altar 
are  ready  (Exod  35  to  40),  God  reveals  the  laws  of  sacri- 
fice and  of  the  consecration  of  priests  for  that  ritual  (Lev 
I  to  10), 

Chapters  17  to  26  give  a  separate  body  of  laws,  which 
make  frequent  appeal  to  the  holiness  of  God  as  a  motive 
for  obedience,  and  is  therefore  called  the  Holiness  Code 
(H).  It  seems  to  be  based  on  an  older  code,  edited  under 
priestly  influence. 

Numbers,  like  Exodus,  is  mingled  story  and  law.  The 
stories  are  set  in  a  period  of  forty  years,  during  which  the 
Hebrews  are  said  to  have  been  dwellers  of  the  half  desert 
region  south  of  Palestine.  The  writers  of  J  and  E  looked 
upon  this  period  as  a  time  of  discipline  of  the  people  by 
Jehovah,  till  they  should  learn  to  trust  and  obey  him.  The 
idea  that  sin  brings  suiTering  is  also  embodied  in  the  stories, 
for  the  forty  years'  delay  in  reaching  Palestine  is  a  punish- 
ment for  their  rebellion  against  Jehovah  (14.  20-25).  There 
are  bits  of  ancient  verse  (21.  14,  15,  17,  18,  27-30),  and 
one  long  story,  half  in  verse,  the  story  of  Balaam,  the  interest 
in  which,  for  the  Hebrew  writers,  lay  in  the  poetical  bless- 
ings of  Israel  which  the  tale  contained  (chs.  22  to  24). 

The  laws  of  the  priestly  code  in  Numbers  follow  naturally 
with  those  of  Leviticus,  and  consist  of  old  customs  and 
their  later  modifications.  Leviticus  has  given  laws  for 
oflferings  and  a  priesthood ;  Numbers  gives  two  sets  of  laws 
for  the  consecration  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  as  ministers  at  the 


I20  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

tabernacle  (chs.  4  and  18).  In  the  code  of  Deuteronomy 
the  priests  and  Levites  were  identical,  the  usual  term  being 
"the  priests,  the  Levites,"  The  priestly  code  represents  the 
later  custom  after  the  exile,  when  not  all  Le\dtes  were 
priests,  but  only  the  members  of  a  certain  caste,  who  in 
the  P  account  trace  their  descent  back  to  Aaron. 

By  the  end  of  Numbers,  JE  and  P  alike  have  brought 
Israel  to  the  borders  of  Canaan,  with  the  conception  that 
God  had  guided  them  all  the  long  way.  It  was  this  idea 
of  the  guidance  of  God  which  made  these  stories  and  laws 
so  rich  in  religious  value  to  the  final  editors  of  these  books. . 

Deuteronomy  has  its  place  in  the  scheme  of  these  books 
as  the  statement  of  laws  given  by  Moses  to  Israel  just  before 
going  across  the  Jordan  into  Palestine. 

Joshua  is  the  story  of  the  conquest  and  settlement  of 
Canaan.     It  divides  into  three  parts : 

Part  I.     Chapters  i  to  12,  the  conquest  of  the  land  by  Joshua. 
Part  II.     Chapters  13  to  22,  the  division  of  the  land  between  the 
tribes. 

Part  III.     Chapters  23  and  24,  the  last  days  and  death  of  Joshua. 

Part  I  is  mainly  JE ;  Part  II  mainly  P ;  Part  III  mainly 
JE.  The  book  has  been  edited  by  some  one  who  wrote  in  the 
spirit  of  Deuteronomy.  For  example,  ch.  i  is  full  of  words 
and  expressions  which  are  characteristic  of  Deuteronomy. 
Part  I  contains  the  account  of  the  entrance  into  Canaan,  and 
the  capture  of  Jericho  (i  to  6)  ;  a  campaign  in  the  south 
(7  to  10)  ;  and  in  the  north  (11  and  12).  Part  II  is  a 
detailed  statement  of  the  tribal  territories  which  were  as- 
signed to  the  various  tribes  under  the  supervision  of  Joshua. 
Part  III  pictures  the  aged  Joshua,  the  land  entirely  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Hebrews,  pleading  with  the  people  to  follow 
Jehovah  only.  The  speeches  assigned  to  him  contain  Deuter- 
onomic  thoughts  and  expressions  and  are,  in  their  present 
form,  like  ch.  i,  the  writing  of  Deuteronomic  editors  (Rd.). 
Such  editorial  work  does  not  detract  from  the  value  of  a 


EXODUS,  LEVITICUS,  NUMBERS,  JOSHUA  121 

book.  The  editor  has  rewritten  old  stories  in  his  own  style, 
as  the  author  of  the  fourth  Gospel  wrote  the  words  of  Jesus 
in  his  own  style. 

The  total  impression  left  by  the  book  of  Joshua  is  of  a 
rapid  conquest  of  Canaan  under  Joshua,  the  complete  sub- 
jugation or  annihilation  of  all  its  inhabitants,  and  the  peace- 
ful possession  of  its  conquered  and  emptied  towns  by  the 
Hebrews,  to  whom  the  land  was  distributed  by  a  divinely 
ordered  lot.  This  impression  is  due  to  the  mechanical  view 
of  history  presented  by  P.  The  impression  made  by  Joshua 
must  be  corrected  by  the  account  of  Judges.  The  latter 
shows  that  the  conquest  was  the  slow  work  of  the  separate 
tribes,  each  conquering  its  own  territory,  while  the  larger 
towns  were  still  held  by  the  original  inhabitants.  The  late 
writer  of  P  takes  very  literally  the  Deuteronomic  idea  that 
God  gave  the  land  to  the  Hebrews.  That  idea,  in  whatever 
form,  had  religious  value,  and  the  editors  of  Joshua  made 
it  the  great  conception  of  the  book. 

The  whole  series  of  books  from  Genesis  to  Joshua  con- 
stituted a  strong  appeal  to  the  faithful  service  of  Jehovah, 
who  had  guided  their  ancestors,  formed  their  nation,  and 
given  them  the  land  which  in  the  writer's  time  had  been 
their  home  for  ages.  When  the  books  were  finally  edited, 
Palestine  was  ruled  by  foreign  powers,  and  the  national 
life  was  blotted  out ;  but  the  prophets  had  bid  them  hold 
faith  for  the  future ;  God  would  3et  make  them  a  nation 
again.  It  was  largely  due  to  the  central  religious  conception 
of  these  books  that  Israel  was  able  to  retain  its  religion  and 
its  national  identity  under  the  disintegrating  influences  of 
later  times,  when  some  other  nations  dissolved  and  dis- 
appeared. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

/.     The  Laws 

1.  What  were  the  subjects  of  legislation  in  Exod  20  to  23? 

2.  State  the  substance  of  the  laws  about  property. 


122  THE   BIBLE  AS   LITERATURE 

3.  What   was   the   status   of   slaves   in   this   code?     Compare   Lev 

25-  39-46. 

4.  What  were  the  subjects  of  legislation  in  Exod  34.   11-26?     Can 

they  be   arranged   in   a   decalogue  ? 

5.  In  Lev    I   to   7,  what  kind   of  offerings?     What   sins   could  be 

atoned  for  by  sacrifices?     Sec  4.  if.,  I3f.,  5.  if.,  14!,  6.  1-5. 

//.     The  Stories 

1.  Read   Exod   14,   15,    19,  20.    18-21.     How  do  the   writers   make 

the  stories  impressive? 

2.  Read  Num  22  to  24.     What  is  the  object  of  the  story?     What 

the   substance   of  the   poetic   parts?      Should   the   section   be 
treated  as  history,  or  as  a  poem  in  praise  of  the  national  God  ? 

3.  Are  there  any  evidences  of  duplicate  stories  in  Exod  14.  15-31  ; 

in  Josh  3  and  4? 

4.  Read    Josh    8,    23,    24.      What    prophetic    religious    ideas    are 

presented? 

5.  Has  the  main  conception  of  these  books,  God's  guidance  of  the 

nation  of   Israel,   any  present  religious  value?     If  so,   what 
is  it? 


CHAPTER   XV 
DEUTERONOMY 

Deuteronomy  is  a  prophetic  sermon  thrown  into  the  form 
of  a  book  of  law.  It  is  filled  with  the  spirit  of  religious 
teaching.  Its  characteristics  and  influence  in  later  Hebrew 
literature  make  it  worthy  of  separate  study. 

The  book  is  in  the  form  of  a  series  of  orations  assigned 
to  Moses,  with  appendices. 

I.  Chs.  I  to  4.  43.  The  first  oration  of  Moses,  with  introduc- 
tion (i.  i-s)  and  appendix  (4.  41-43).  A  resume  of  the  wanderings 
of  Israel,  with  exhortations  to  remain  faithful  to  Jehovah. 

II.  Chs.  4.  44  to  28.  68.  The  second  oration  of  Moses,  with 
introduction  (4.  44-49).  The  oration  is  divided  into  two  parts, 
the  hortatory   (chs.  5  to   11)   and  the  legal    (chs.   12  to  28). 

III.  Chs.  29  and  30.  The  third  oration  of  Moses,  containing 
promises  and  warnings. 

IV.  Chs.  31  to  34.  The  last  words  of  Moses,  poems  ascribed 
to  him,  and  an  account  of  his  death. 

The  important  part  of  the  book  is  in  the  second  oration. 
Here  is  found  the  great  body  of  its  laws,  and  the  hortatory 
introduction  gives  the  key  to  the  writer's  purpose,  in  its 
prophetic  exhortations  to  cling  fast  to  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  Read  large  portions,  if  not  the  whole,  of  this 
introduction  (chs.  5  to  11)  for  its  light  on  the  author's  pur- 
pose and  style.  Notice  the  reiteration  of  certain  ideas ;  God 
has  guided  the  nation ;  he  gives  them  the  land  they  are  to 
enter;  he  forbids  the  worship  of  other  gods,  and  demands 
their  exclusive  service.  Notice  the  style — full,  oratorical, 
so  repetitious  that  certain  words  and  phrases  are  known 
as  Deuteronomic. 

The  legal  section,  chs.  12  to  28,  is  a  people's  law  book, 
in  distinction  from  Leviticus,  which  is  a  priest's  law  book. 

I -'3 


124  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

There  is  no  explanation  of  the  ceremonies  of  sacrifice,  nor 
of  any  of  the  priestly  offices  about  which  the  P  codes  give 
us  abundant  information.  The  purpose  of  the  book  seems 
to  be  to  instruct  the  common  people  in  the  common  duties 
of  life.  It  is  also  more  than  a  law  book,  even  in  its  legal 
portions.  The  author  is  constantly  inserting  reasons  why 
the  laws  should  be  obeyed,  exhortations  to  love  and  honor 
Jehovah,  warnings  against  abandoning  his  worship.  The 
beginning  of  the  code,  ch.  12,  furnishes  the  central  principle 
of  the  book.  Read  it,  and  see  how  it  is  designed  to  unify  the 
worship  of  Jehovah.  All  sacrifice  must  be  offered  at  one 
place.  Animals  killed  for  food,  which  before  this  had  been 
brought  to  a  shrine  and  killed  with  religious  ceremonies, 
may  now  be  slain  and  eaten  anywhere,  like  wild  game. 

The  laws  of  Deuteronomy  rest,  in  the  main,  upon  the  laws 
of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  Exod  20  to  23.  Compare 
Deut  5.  6-21  and  Exod  20.  2-17;  Deut  22.  iff.  and  Exod 
23.  4ff. ;  Deut  14.  21b  and  Exod  2^.  19b.  Some  laws  have 
been  added,  and  many  former  laws  have  been  changed, 
often  in  the  interests  of  a  growing  civilization.  Compare 
Deut  12.  1-28  and  Exod  20.  24;  Deut  15.  12  and  Exod 
21.  7;  Deut  19.  1-13  and  Exod  21.  12-14.  Certain  other 
sections  in  Numbers  and  Exodus  furnish  bases  for  the  laws 
in  this  book,  but  they  are  all  in  the  JE  codes,  never  the  P 
codes.    Its  place  in  history  must  be  after  JE  and  before  P. 

The  two  main  characteristics  of  the  code  are  its  emphasis 
on  (i)  loyalty  to  Jehovah,  and  (2)  philanthropy.  The  code 
dwells  upon  the  necessity  of  worshiping  Jehovah  only,  as 
does  its  hortatory  introduction.  It  commands  justice  to  the 
poor  and  to  strangers  (24.  i7ff. ;  10.  I9ff.)  ;  provides  for 
organized  courts  (16.  18-20)  ;  softens  old  barbaric  customs 
(compare  20.  19  and  2  Kings  3.  19;  19.  15-21  and  Exod 
21.  23-24). 

Deuteronomy  has  an  interesting  history.  The  first  trace 
we  have  of  it  is  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  when,  in  621  B.  C, 
those  who  were  repairing  the  temple  at  the  order  of  the 


DEUTERONOMY  125 

king  brought  to  him  a  law  book,  which  they  said  had  been 
found  in  the  temple.  It  was  a  book  new  to  the  king.  A 
prophetess  to  whom  the  matter  was  referred  affirmed  it  to 
be  a  statement  of  Jehovah's  law,  though  she  is  not  said  to 
have  made  any  claim  of  antiquity  for  it.  The  king  organ- 
ized and  carried  out  a  reform  on  the  basis  of  it;  and  the 
chief  elements  of  his  reform  were  the  destruction  of  shrines 
of  other  gods  and  the  concentration  of  all  worship  of 
Jehovah  in  Jerusalem ;  the  things  which  Deuteronomy  alone 
among  the  codes  emphasizes.  There  seems  no  doubt  but 
that  the  book  found  in  the  temple  was  at  least  a  part  of 
Deuteronomy.  Some  of  the  appendix  material  of  the  book 
seems  to  be  later  than  this  time.  The  original  book  is 
usually  considered  to  have  included  most,  if  not  all,  of  chs. 
12  to  26,  28,  and  perhaps  chs.  5  to  11,  for  these  chapters 
are  a  unity  as  the  rest  of  the  book  is  not. 

What  was  the  origin  of  this  early  edition  of  Deuteronomy? 
The  book  could  not  have  been  an  ancient  code  of  the  nation's 
laws.  Prophets,  priests,  and  kings,  through  all  Israel's 
history,  had  violated  its  fundamental  precepts  and  no  one 
had  ever  protested.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  one 
had  knowledge  of  a  law  demanding  that  all  worship  should 
be  at  one  place.  It  seems  certain  that  the  book  must  have 
been  comparatively  recent  when  it  was  brought  out  from 
the  temple.  Its  prophetic  spirit  and  ideas  point  to  its 
origin  among  the  prophets.  There  had  been  a  time,  before 
the  reign  of  Josiah,  during  the  long  reign  of  Manasseh 
and  the  short  reign  of  his  son,  Amon,  when  the  enmity 
of  the  court  to  the  prophets  made  their  public  activity 
unsafe.  There  is  a  period  of  nearly  seventy-five  years 
from  which  we  have  no  sermons.  It  cannot  be  supposed 
that  the  prophetic  spirit  was  inactive  during  this  time. 
Many  regard  this  as  the  period  during  which  the  laws 
of  Deuteronomy  were  compiled.  This  would  account  for 
the  central  idea  of  the  book,  the  unification  of  worship. 
The    early    prophets    contain    abundant    evidence    of    the 


126  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

corruption  of  worship  at  the  ancient  local  shrines,  which 
this  unification  was  intended  to  reform.  It  would  account 
for  the  feeling  of  religious  intensity  which  pervades  the 
book.  The  authors  were  filled  with  their  great  prophetic 
ideas  of  God's  claim  on  Israel,  and.  since  they  could  not 
speak  publicly,  their  feeling  flowed  out  into  the  rich  reli- 
gious devotion  of  this  book.  They  took  the  old  laws  and 
customs  of  the  nation  and  brought  them  up  to  date,  making 
them  express  the  reforms  which  they  felt  the  nation  needed 
most. 

The  writers  had  their  reward.  No  book  in  preexilic 
literature  had  so  great  an  influence  on  those  who  came 
after  as  this  book.  Both  its  style  and  its  ideas  are  so  striking 
that  their  influence  can  easily  be  traced,  and  one  finds  it  in 
Jeremiah,  the  later  editors  of  the  Hexateuch,  the  entire 
series  of  histories  in  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings,  while 
Jesus  sums  up  the  law  in  words  from  this  book.  Under- 
neath its  code  of  laws  lay  the  thought  of  the  love  of  God 
for  Israel,  and  thus  it  became  a  basis  for  the  highest  reli- 
gious conceptions  which  Judaism  and  Christianity  were 
afterward  to  attain. 

TOPICS   AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Compare  Deut  5  with  Exod  20.     What  differences,  especially  in 

tlie  decalogue?  Is  it  possible  to  tell  which  represents  the 
earlier   form? 

2.  Read  chs.  6  to  11.     What  are  the  main  ideas?     What  are  some 

of  the  most  common  phrases? 

3.  State  the  substance  of  the  law  about  the  place  of  worship,  in 

ch.  12.  What  is  the  connection  of  vv.  15-18,  20-25,  with  the 
place  of  worship? 

4.  Compare  (I)  Exod  21.  2-1 1,  Deut  15.  12-18,  Lev  25.  39-46;  (II) 

Exod  2.  12-14,  Deut  19.  1-13,  Lev  24.  17-21,  Num  35.  What 
differences  in  the  various  codes  between  the  laws  on  each 
subject? 

5.  Read   chs.    29   and   30.      Compare    the    religious   ideas   and    the 

style  with  chs.  6  to  11. 

6.  State,  from  your  reading  of  Deuteronomy,  its  great  ideas,  giving 

references  in  illustration. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
JUDGES 

The  time  embraced  in  the  book  of  Judges  corresponds 
roughly  to  the  colonial  period  in  American  history.  The 
people  were  taking  root  in  Palestine  and  the  scattered  tribes 
were  slowly  being  formed  into  a  nation.  In  this  period  the 
prominent  figures  were  a  series  of  local  chieftains,  called 
judges.  In  modern  Arabia  they  would  be  called  sheiks. 
The  stories  of  some  of  these  chieftains  constitute  the  book 
of  Judges. 

The  book  consists  of  three  main  divisions : 

Division  I.  Chapters  i.  i  to  2.  5,  which  is  an  introduction,  telling 
the  story  of  the  conquest. 

Division  II.  Chapters  2.  6  to  16.  31,  forming  the  body  of  the 
book,  containing  accounts  of  thirteen  judges,  set  in  an  editorial 
introduction  and  framework. 

Division  III.  Chapters  17  to  21  comprise  two  appendices,  giving 
stories  of  the  migration  of  Dan  and  the  Benjamite  war. 

The  introduction  is  from  the  earliest  prophetic  narrative, 
J.  The  editor  of  Joshua  has  also  used  some  of  the  saine 
matter  (compare  i.  10-15  and  Josh  15.  13-19).  It  shows 
that  the  conquest  was  a  slow  movement,  carried  on  by  each 
tribe  as  it  was  able.  Emphasis  is  laid  on  the  fact  that  the 
Canaanites  were  not  driven  out  by  the  Hebrews,  and  in 
2.  1-5  a  reason  for  this  is  given.  This  division  is  wholly 
independent  of  the  rest  of  the  book.  It  forms  an  appropriate 
introduction.  The  book  opens  with  stories  of  the  reviving 
power  of  the  Canaanites,  who  were  almost  able  to  over- 
power the  Hebrews ;  and  this  division  tells  how  it  happened 
that  they  were  so  strong. 

127 


128  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

The  body  of  the  book  has  an  introduction  of  its  own, 
2.  6  to  3.  6.  It  opens  with  an  account  of  the  death  and 
burial  of  Joshua,  drawn  from  the  source  used  in  the  last 
chapter  of  Joshua.  Then  follows  a  division  which  is  the 
work  of  the  editor  of  the  book,  and  which  furnishes  the  key 
to  his  purpose  in  writing  it  (vv.  11  to  19).  The  verbs 
are  frequentatives,  and  the  division  states  what  the  author 
conceives  to  have  been  the  customary  action  of  Israel  and 
Jehovah.  The  people  turned  from  God ;  he  brought  trouble 
upon  them ;  they  turned  to  him  again ;  he  heard  their  cry 
and  delivered  them.    Again  and  again  this  occurred.    Read 

2.  11-19  with  care,  for  in  it  lies  the  author's  reason  for 
compiling  the  book. 

The  history  begins  in  3.  7.  It  consists  of  stories  of  the 
different  judges,  each  set  in  a  framework  written  by  the 
editor  who  wrote  the  introduction.    Read  the  framework  in 

3.  yf.,  3.  i2f.,  4.  if.,  6.  if.,  10.  6f.,  13.  I.  Each  states 
in  essence  the  same  facts :  the  people  turn  from  God,  he 
gives  them  into  the  hand  of  their  enemies,  they  cry  to  him, 
he  sends  a  deliverer.  Is  this  not  the  same  thing  that  the 
introduction  has  said?  Each  of  these  passages  is  the  text 
of  a  prophetic  sermon,  designed  to  show  that  Israel's 
national  safety  lies  only  in  the  service  of  Jehovah.  The 
author  looked  over  the  old  stories  of  his  people's  history, 
and  found  tales  which  he  thought  he  could  use  to  teach  this 
lesson ;  but  he  would  not  leave  the  readers  to  draw  their 
own  conclusions.  Again  and  again  he  repeated  the  truth 
he  wished  to  teach. 

This  point  of  view  is  akin  to  that  of  Deuteronomy.  This 
author  is  usually  called  the  Deuteronomic  editor  of  Judges, 
and  his  book,  Judg  2.  6  to  16.  31,  is  called  the  Deuter- 
onomic Judges,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  entire  present  book, 
with  its  introduction  and  appendices. 

The  stories  which  he  used  are  not  in  his  style,  nor  are 
they  always  told  from  his  point  of  view.  Some  of  them  have 
quite  different  lessons,  like  the  story  of  Abimelech,  where 


JUDGES  129 

9.  56f.  shows  the  old  prophetic  lesson  that  sin  brings  punish- 
ment. Evidently,  he  found  these  stories  already  collected, 
and  incorporated  them  in  his  book  without  rewriting. 
This  earlier  book  is  known  as  the  pre-Deuteronomic  book 
of  Judges.  It  also  was  a  prophetic  book,  written  to  in- 
culcate the  common  prophetic  teaching  that  sin  brings  pun- 
ishment. Probably  it  included  stories  of  Eli  and  Samuel, 
which  now  appear  in  the  book  of  Samuel. 

The  pre-Deuteronomic  book  was  itself  composite.  For 
example,  in  the  story  of  Gideon,  8.  4-21  does  not  connect 
with  7.  25,  where  princes  of  Midian  bearing  different  names 
are  already  captured.  Two  sources  can  be  traced  through- 
out the  book,  and  they  bear  a  strong  resemblance  in  style 
and  point  of  view  to  J  and  E.  Many  think  that  they  are  J 
and  E ;  that  those  early  collections  of  stories,  instead  of 
stopping  with  the  death  of  Joshua,  continued  at  least  through 
the  story  of  the  judges,  and  that  the  pre-Deuteronomic 
Judges  is  a  part  of  the  book  JE,  combined  from  these  two 
sources.  If  so,  this  would  account  for  its  teaching  of  sin 
and  suffering. 

Behind  these  sources  must,  of  course,  lie  the  old  oral 
stories  and  ballads,  local  tales  of  the  deeds  of  the  heroes 
which  were  later  gathered,  with  more  or  less  change,  into 
the  first  written  accounts.  One  of  these  is  preserved ;  ch.  5 
is  the  ballad  on  which  the  prose  story  of  ch.  4  is  based.  The 
poem  is  an  excellent  example  of  primitive  war  ballads.  It 
must  have  been  written  not  long  after  the  event  it  celebrates, 
and  is  the  oldest  piece  of  Hebrew  literature  of  whose  date 
we  can  be  reasonably  certain.  The  prose  story  has  changed 
some  details  of  the  poetic  story  (compare  4.  19-21  and 
5.  25-27),  and  has  added  from  tradition  enough  to  make 
the  story,  rather  blind  in  the  poem,  intelligible  to  the  reader. 
These  old  hero-tales  carry  us  back  to  the  rough,  wild  times 
of  the  judges.  With  their  naive  character  and  their  primi- 
tive morals  they  are  excellent  sources  for  constructing  the 
picture  of  the  life  and  civilization  of  early  Israel. 


130  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

The  appendix,  chs.  17  to  21,  consists  of  stories  bearing 
the  same  marks  of  vigorous  primitive  Hfe  and  crude  morals. 
Few  stories  in  any  ancient  literature  illustrate  better  the 
primitive  confusion  of  religious  and  moral  ideals  than  the 
story  in  chs.  17  and  18,  of  Micah  and  his  idol,  and  the  tribe 
that  stole  a  shrine  and  a  priest  and  massacred  a  city.  These 
stories  may  have  been  in  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Judges, 
and  left  out  by  the  author  of  the  Deuteronomic  Judges  as 
not  illustrating  his  point,  but  afterward  added  by  an  editor. 
While  there  are  evidences  of  some  later  changes,  yet,  on  the 
whole,  they  belong  to  a  very  early  stage  of  Hebrew  story- 
telling, and  are  very  valuable  as  history. 

At  some  time  in  the  process  of  building  up  the  book  from 
its  sources  in  primitive  stories,  editors  have  added  two  con- 
ceptions which  do  not  harmonize  with  the  stories  them- 
selves: (i)  that  the  judges  were  rulers  of  all  Israel,  and 
(2)  that,  therefore,  it  was  possible  to  make  a  connected 
chronology,  as  though  they  were  kings  in  a  dynasty.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  judges  were  local  leaders,  and  no  exact 
chronology  is  possible. 

As  literature,  the  interest  of  the  book  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  presents  primitive  ideals  in  the  form  of  tales  about  popular 
heroes  told  in  popular  form.  The  portrayals  of  the  char- 
acters and  ideals  of  Deborah,  Gideon,  Jephthah,  and  Samson 
are  among  the  choice  examples  of  oriental  tales.  The  reli- 
gious values  of  the  book  lie  in  the  point  of  view  of  its 
editors.  Few  prophetic  teachings  are  more  skilfully  con- 
veyed than  that  of  the  Deuteronomic  editor,  who  insists 
that  prosperity  depends  upon  faithfulness  to  religion  and 
loyalty  to  the  nation's  God. 

TOPICS   AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  How  do  chs.  2.  II  to  3.  6,  and  the  introductions  to  the  stories, 

as  2.  yi.,  I2f.,  4.  if.,  6.  if.,  show  the  author's  purpose? 

2.  Read  chs.  4  and  5.     How  does  the  prose  account  differ  in  fact 

from  the  poetic?     Which  is  the   earlier?     Why? 

3.  What  qualities  of  poetry  in  ch.  5? 


JUDGES  131 

4.  Read  ch.  3.    12-30,  chs.  6,  7,  11    for  the  qualities  of  character 

which  produced  the  judges. 

5.  Read  chs.  i.  i  to  2.  5.     Why  was  this  introduction  prefixed  to 

the  book? 

6.  What  were  the  characteristics  of  the  times  of  the  judges,  as 

shown  in  chs.  17  and  18? 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  BOOKS  OF  SAMUEL 

These  books  were  originally  one,  the  division  being  first 
made  in  the  LXX,  The  name  is  not  descriptive  of  the 
contents  of  the  books;  Samuel  is  the  chief  character  of 
only  the  first  third. 

The  books  divide  into  three  parts : 

Part  I.     The  work  of  Samuel,  i  Sam  i  to  12. 

Part   II.     The  reign  of   Saul,   i    Sam   13  to  31. 

Part  III.  The  reign  of  David,  2  Sam.  Part  III  divides  also 
into  three  parts:  (i)  General  account  of  David's  reign,  chs.  i  to  8; 
(2)  David's  sin  and  its  consequences,  chs.  9  to  20;  (3)  an  ap- 
pendix, composed  of  various  stories  and  poems,  connected  with 
David's  reign,  chs.  21  to  24. 

These  divisions  are  according  to  subject  matter,  not  ac- 
cording to  sources.  The  problem  of  sources  is  not  so  easy 
to  solve  as  in  some  of  the  books,  but  two  sources  may  be 
distinguished.  One  is  clear,  simple,  vivid,  full  of  incident 
and  detail,  an  example  of  the  best  Hebrew  narration ;  the 
author  is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  kingdom,  and  has  no 
doubt  that  God  approved  of  its  foundation.  It  seems  to 
come  from  a  period  not  long  after  the  events  narrated. 
The  other  is  a  little  more  formal  and  less  picturesque.  The 
author  seems  to  stand  somewhat  farther  from  the  events, 
and  the  years  have  brought  disillusion.  He  also  thinks  that 
God  founded  the  kingdom,  but  it  was  at  the  demand  of  a 
rebellious  people,  and  God  gave  them  a  king  in  his  wrath. 
As  in  Judges,  these  two  sources  have  many  of  the  qualities 
of  J  and  E.  Both  are  interested,  as  are  those  sources,  in 
showing  that  sin  brings  punishment.     Many  suppose  that 

132 


THE  BOOKS  OF  SAMUEL  133 

these  sources  are  J  and  E.  If  so,  those  books  were  great 
prophetic  collections  of  traditions  and  stories,  stretching 
from  the  earliest  legends  of  the  nation  down  to  the  history 
of  King  David.  In  any  case,  we  have  here  stories  which  are 
almost  contemporaneous  with  the  events,  and  which  come  to 
us  in  much  the  same  vivid  form  as  that  in  which  they  were 
told  in  the  villages  and  by  the  camp  fires  on  the  Palestinian 
hills. 

With  these  main  sources  are  fragments  from  other 
sources.  Some  of  the  narratives  may  come  from  tradition. 
Chapter  7  is  so  much  like  the  book  of  Judges  that  it  is 
generally  considered  to  be  the  story  of  the  judge  Samuel, 
from  the  pre-Deuteronomic  book  of  Judges.  For  the  poem 
in  2  Sam  i,  the  book  of  Jashur  is  given  as  the  source. 

The  date  of  the  final  compilation  of  the  book  is  after  the 
publication  of  Deuteronomy,  perhaps  about  600.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  author  is  to  show  the  guidance  of  God  in  national 
affairs — practically  the  same  purpose  as  the  editors  of  the 
Hexateuch.  The  editor  of  Samuel  shows  how  God  founded 
the  kingdom  and  guided  its  earliest  monarchs  and  therefore 
the  people  should  serve  him.  He  passes  rapidly  over  the 
story  of  Eli  and  the  fortunes  of  the  ark  which  had  been 
taken  in  battle,  deals  briefly  with  the  campaigns  in  which 
Samuel  won  his  judgeship,  and  bends  his  efforts  to  showing 
how  Israel,  weak  and  powerless  under  the  domination  of 
stronger  peoples,  was  ready  for  a  king.  At  the  same  time 
he  does  not  intend  to  slight  the  great  character,  Samuel, 
who  was  the  founder  of  the  prophetic  order,  and  one  of 
the  heroes  of  the  nation's  history.  While  he  does  not 
present  his  life  fully,  he  tells  enough  of  the  old  stories  about 
him  to  leave  the  impression  of  a  remarkably  unselfish  and 
noble  personality.  In  his  account  of  the  founding  of  the 
kingdom  the  stories  are  told  more  at  length,  and  here  his 
use  of  the  two  sources  becomes  evident.  The  earlier  source 
is  in  9.  I  to  10.  16;  10.  27b  to  II.  15  ;  and  chs.  13  and  14; 
the  later  source,  chs.  8,  10.  17-273,  and  ch.  12,  with  a  few 


134  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

editorial  harmonizing  additions.  As  the  account  stands  in 
the  present  text  it  is  not  harmonious.  Why  should  the 
people  search  all  Israel  for  a  champion  (ch.  ii)  when  a 
king  was  already  chosen?  Fancy  the  people  of  Saul's  vil- 
lage weeping  at  the  hopelessness  of  the  search  when  the  new 
king  was  their  own  fellow  townsman!  Read  separately, 
each  story  is  consistent,  but  told  from  a  different  point  of 
view.  In  the  first  the  choice  of  a  king  is  regarded  favor- 
ably, as  a  means  to  deliver  Israel  (9.  16).  In  the  second, 
it  is  allowed  by  God  in  response  to  an  irreligious  request  of 
the  people.  One  can  see,  however,  why  the  author  has 
used  both  stories;  they  both  illustrate  his  point  of  view.  In 
both  God  guided  the  founding  of  the  kingdom. 

The  stories  about  Saul  are  gathered  to  illustrate  the  same 
ideas — that  God  was  guiding  the  destinies  of  Israel,  and 
that  the  way  of  prosperity  is  the  way  of  obedience  to  his 
commands.  We  have  very  little  told  about  the  political  or 
economic  outcome  of  Saul's  kingship.  He  expresses  the 
purpose  of  his  stories  of  Saul  in  the  distich  which  Samuel 
utters  to  the  disobedient  king: 

To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice, 
And  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams  (15.  22). 
One  follows  the  decline  of  Saul's  kingdom  through  the 
fragmentary  stories  of  the  latter  part  of  i  Samuel  with  a 
great  pity  for  the  helpless  struggles  of  a  character  who 
might  have  been  so  heroic.  That  is  exactly  the  impression 
which  the  author  intended  to  leave  when  he  gathered  up 
these  stories,  and  made  for  his  people  a  sermon  on  obedience 
out  of  the  old  tales  of  their  past  history. 

With  the  opening  of  Second  Samuel  attention  turns  to  the 
reign  of  David.  He  was  the  greatest  national  hero  of  Israel's 
history,  and  the  author  has  presented  the  story  more  system- 
atically than  he  has  that  of  Saul.  In  2  Sam  i  to  8  is  a 
general  account  of  David's  accession  and  reign.  It  closes  in 
ch.  8  with  a  general  summary  of  his  wars,  and  a  list  of  some 
of  the  officers  of  his  court.     Chapters  9  to  20  arc  all  from 


THE  BOOKS  OF  SAMUEL  135 

the  earliest  source.  It  is  the  largest  single  block  of  material 
from  one  source  in  any  of  the  historical  books,  and  one 
cannot  but  wish  that  we  had  more  like  it.  Its  plan  is  very- 
compact.  There  is  nothing  in  it  which  does  not  further  the 
main  story.  The  purpose  of  the  author  is  to  show  how  sin 
brings  suffering.  David's  sin  returns  upon  his  own  head, 
and  finally  leads,  by  indirect  means  which  are  clearly  traced 
in  the  story,  to  the  rebellion  of  Absalom,  when  the  old  king, 
driven  out  of  his  city,  is  heartbroken  over  the  revolt  and 
death  of  his  favorite  son.  It  is  a  story  with  a  purpose,  a 
real  sermon,  and  no  modern  novel  has  ever  made  its  purpose 
more  clear  than  does  this  narrative. 

The  appendix  contains  matter  from  various  sources.  The 
poems  it  ascribes  to  David  belong  to  a  later  time,  but  the 
stories  seem  to  come  from  an  early  source,  perhaps  the 
source  used  in  so  much  of  the  book.  There  are  two  pas- 
sages of  especial  interest  in  the  books  of  Samuel :  ( i )  The 
story  of  David's  introduction  to  the  court  of  Saul,  where 
the  LXX  omits  17.  12  to  31,  41,  50,  17.  55  to  18.  5,  18.  10, 
II,  17  to  19,  and  other  fragments.  This  makes  a  more  con- 
sistent narrative,  and  avoids  the  difficulty  of  representing 
David,  already  a  member  of  Saul's  court,  as  unknown  to 
Saul.  It  is  a  good  illustration  of  one  way  in  which  the 
Greek  translators  dealt  with  difficulties.  (2)  The  elegy 
of  David  over  Saul  and  Jonathan,  in  2  Sam  i.  19-27.  This 
poem  is  in  all  probability  a  genuine  song  of  David,  and 
belongs  to  the  oldest  Hebrew  literature.  It  is  a  noble 
poem,  and  shows  a  noble  heart  in  its  writer.  In  reading 
it  observe  its  two  parts ;  its  complicated  rhythm ;  its  refrains  ; 
the  quahties  ascribed  to  Saul  and  Jonathan.  Another  frag- 
ment of  elegy  ascribed  to  David  is  in  2  Sam  3.  ^^,  34. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

I.  Read  i  Sam  8  to  12  to  distinguish  the  sources,  their  difference 
in  statement  of  fact  and  in  point  of  view.  How  do  both 
show  the  purpose  of  the  book? 


136  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

2.  In  I  Sam  13,  15,  28,  31,  what  is  the  writer's  estimate  of  Saul? 

3.  In  2  Sam  i.   19-27,  what  are   (a)   the  thoughts  expressed,   (b) 

the  estimate  of  Saul  and  his  reign,  (c)  the  revelation  as  to  the 
character  of  the  writer? 

4.  Read  2  Sam  17,  18,  and  observe  its  qualities  as  impressive  story- 

telling.    Compare  with  the  prophetic  stories  of  Genesis   for 
vigor  and  vividness. 

5.  Classify  the  appendix,  2  Sam  21  to  24,  into  prose  and  poetry. 

What  are  the  subjects  of  the  prose  stories? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  BOOKS  OF  KINGS 

These  books  were,  like  the  books  of  Samuel,  originally 
a  single  work,  divided  first  by  the  translators  of  the  LXX. 
They  are  closely  connected  in  origin  with  Samuel,  and 
may  have  come  from  the  same  editors,  making  with  Samuel 
a  single  book. 

Kings  is  a  history  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy  from  the 
accession  of  Solomon,  about  970,  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
586.  It  covers  a  period  of  four  hundred  years,  during  half 
of  which  time  it  carries  forward  the  records  of  two  king- 
doms ;  and  each  king  is  mentioned,  his  character  judged,  and 
his  work  summarized.  To  one,  Solomon,  eleven  chapters 
are  given.  Space  is  taken  for  stories  of  the  prophets,  Elijah 
and  Elisha.  Obviously,  the  history  must  be  told  on  a  differ- 
ent scale  from  that  in  Samuel,  where  nearly  as  much  space 
is  given  to  about  a  century,  with  only  a  few  great  characters 
moving  across  the  stage  of  action ;  and  yet  the  marvel  is  that, 
with  all  its  compactness.  Kings  commands  the  reader's 
interest.  As  a  piece  of  literary  work  these  books  rank  high. 
They  also  present  the  best  history  that  we  find  in  the  Old 
Testament,  making  the  course  of  the  nation's  career  for  the 
period  they  cover  more  clear  than  is  any  other  part  of  its 
history. 

The  work  divides  into  three  parts : 

I.  I  Kings  i-ii,  the  reign  of  Solomon. 

II.  I  Kings  12  to  2  Kings  17.  The  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah, 
to  the  fall  of  Israel. 

III.  2  Kings  18  to  25.  The  kings  of  Judah,  after  the  fall  of 
Israel. 

The  first  two  chapters  arc  in  the  main  from  the  earlier 

137 


138  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

source  used  in  Samuel,  and  tell  the  story  of  the  last  days 
and  death  of  David.  The  rest  of  Part  I  is  the  account  of 
Solomon's  reign.  It  is  not  a  consecutive  history  but  a 
statement  of  the  glory  of  Solomon.  Indeed,  there  was  little 
history  of  his  reign  to  be  told ;  but  he  was  an  important 
character  in  the  traditions  of  the  nation.  The  author  is 
interested  in  two  things :  the  traditions  of  Solomon's  great- 
ness, and  the  building  of  the  temple.  The  description  of  the 
erection  of  the  temple  occupies  the  center  of  this  section, 
and  on  each  side  of  it  stand  accounts  of  his  court,  and  his 
power,  wisdom,  and  wealth.  The  king  has  absorbed  the 
state.  One  is  not  inclined  to  lay  much  stress  on  the  order  in 
which  this  material  is  arranged  when  it  is  seen  that  the 
LXX  has  a  different  order,  and  to  some  extent  a  different 
content.  There  must  have  been  two  recensions  of  Kings, 
both  of  which  have  come  to  us,  one  in  Hebrew  and  one  in 
Greek. 

With  Part  II,  the  peculiar  literary  form  which  charac- 
terizes Kings  begins,  and  continues  to  the  end  of  the  book, 
only  partially  broken  by  the  insertion  of  long  accounts  of 
Elijah  and  Elisha.  The  form  is  that  of  brief  accounts  of  the 
reigns  of  successive  kings.  The  scheme  is  simple.  When 
a  king  of  either  kingdom  has  been  introduced,  his  reign  is 
narrated,  then  those  of  all  the  kings  of  the  other  kingdom 
up  to  his  death.  See  as  an  example  2  Kings  14  and  15.  This 
scheme,  to  be  perfect  in  its  adjustment,  requires  an  exact 
correlation  of  chronology.  The  preexilic  Hebrews  were  not 
exact  in  chronology ;  and,  while  the  editor  has  done  the  best 
possible,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  correct  his  dates  from 
the  contemporary  Assyrian  records. 

Each  account  of  a  king  is  set  in  a  literary  framework, 
always  taking  the  same  general  form,  and  differing  some- 
what for  kings  of  Judah  and  of  Israel.  Examples  arc 
I  Kings  14.  2if.,  29f.,  15.  if.,  yi.,  gi.,  23f.,  25f.,  31  f.  Notice 
what  its  form  is  for  the  beginning  and  the  close  of  the  reigns, 
and  for  the  kings  of  each  kingdom.    The  part  of  the  formula 


THE  BOOKS  OF  KINGS  139 

most  important  to  the  writer,  and  most  significant  of  his 
purpose,  is  the  judgment  which  he  passes  on  each  king.  A 
study  of  these  judgments,  like  that  of  the  formula  in  Judges, 
gives  us  the  author's  point  of  view.  Every  king  of  Israel 
he  condemns.  "He  walked  in  the  way  of  Jeroboam  the 
son  of  Nebat,  and  in  his  sin  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to 
sin."  That  sin  was  making  shrines  at  Bethel  and  Dan,  so 
that  the  people  need  not  go  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  Jehovah. 
The  condemnation  is  not  for  oppression  of  the  people  or  bad 
government,  but  always  because  they  worship  elsewhere  than 
at  Jerusalem.  No  king  of  Judah  is  commended  without 
qualification  till  Josiah,  who  destroyed  the  ancient  shrines 
outside  of  Jerusalem.  Some  kings  are  said  to  have  done 
well,  "but  the  people  still  worshiped  at  the  high  places."  In 
these  formulas  we  see  the  point  of  view  of  the  author.  It 
is  that  of  Deuteronomy.  By  that  code  he  judges  the  kings, 
even  those  who  preceded  its  promulgation.  He,  like  the 
writer  of  Judges,  is  trying  to  show  that  prosperity  depends 
on  the  proper  worship  of  Jehovah.  His  philosophy  of  his- 
tory is  sometimes  hard  to  fit  into  the  facts.  For  example, 
the  fall  of  Judah  came  not  very  long  after  the  enforcement 
of  this  Deuteronomic  law.  The  author  accounts  for  it  on 
the  rather  strange  supposition  that  Jehovah  found  it  im- 
possible to  forgive  the  nation  for  the  sins  of  Manasseh,  a 
hundred  years  before,  and  for  that  reason  destroyed  Judah 
(2  Kings  23.  26,  27). 

If  the  book  is  compiled  from  a  Deuteronomic  point  of 
view,  we  shall  expect  to  find  further  passages  which  show 
it.  They  may  be  expected  particularly  in  those  sections 
which  deal  with  the  temple,  or  with  the  worship  of  other 
gods  than  Jehovah,  or  with  the  judgment  of  particular 
events.  Passages  containing  evidence  of  such  editing  are, 
among  others,  i  Kings  8.  23-53,  the  prayer  of  Solomon, 
one  of  the  best  portions  of  Deuteronomic  editing  in  the 
Bible;  i  Kings  9.  1-9,  which  is  full  of  characteristic  Deu- 
teronomic phrases;  2  Kings  17.  7-41,  where  the  writer  finds 


I40  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

reasons  for  the  fall  of  Israel  in  accord  with  his  philosophy  of 
history. 

The  problem  of  sources  is  here  very  easy.  The  writer  has 
named  his  main  sources :  The  Acts  of  Solomon  ( i  Kings  1 1 . 
41)  ;  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Judah,  and  the  Chroni- 
cles of  the  Kings  of  Israel.  These  Chronicles  were  prob- 
ably not  the  court  records,  but  were  based  on  them.  Some- 
times our  author  has  copied  the  sources  bodily,  as  the 
authors  of  the  earlier  books  did  J  and  E ;  sometimes  he 
has  condensed  them  into  brief  sections,  usually  called  Epit- 
omes. The  stories  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  do  not  come  from 
records  of  the  royal  houses.  They  bear  all  the  marks  of 
popular  story,  and  seem  to  come  from  groups  of  prophetic 
traditions,  which  had  gathered  about  the  names  of  these 
great  prophets.  It  is  thought  that  there  were  two  sets  of 
them,  one  of  EHjah  and  one  of  Elisha,  differing  slightly  in 
literary  characteristics.  The  reigns  of  the  kings  at  the 
close  of  the  book  are  not  referred  to  sources,  for  the 
author  was  writing  out  of  his  own  knowledge.  The  book, 
which  begins  with  old  popular  stories,  ends  with  personal 
experience,  the  best  possible  kind  of  history. 

The  judgment  of  the  historical  value  of  Kings  must  rest 
on  the  judgment  of  its  sources.  If  one  is  inclined  to  see 
in  the  stories  of  Elisha  and  Elijah  the  legendary  expansions 
which  naturally  gather  about  the  figures  of  great  leaders 
supposed  to  have  supernatural  power,  that  will  in  no  way 
diminish  our  historical  esteem  of  the  two  great  books  of 
Chronicles  from  which  the  author  borrows,  and  still  less, 
of  the  personal  record  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  at  the  end 
of  the  book.  From  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  best  part  of 
the  book  is  the  vivid  popular  stories  of  the  prophets.  They 
also  present  the  best  religious  teaching,  for  they  emphasize 
the  human  qualities  of  kindliness  and  justice  between  man 
and  man,  as  well  as  of  a  devotion  to  God  which  is  willing  to 
risk  life  in  his  service. 

The  book  seems  to  have  had  two  stages  of  growth.    Parts 


THE  BOOKS  OF  KINGS  141 

of  it  indicate  a  time  before  the  fall  of  Judah.  It  uses  the 
phrase  "unto  this  day"  in  a  way  not  applicable  later  ( i  Kings 
8.  8;  9.  21).  The  final  editing  could  not  have  been  till  after 
586,  and  the  book  ends  with  a  note  about  Jehoiachin  which 
was  appended  not  earlier  than  562, 

The  religious  interest  of  the  book  Hes :  ( i )  In  the  lesson 
which  underlies  all  this  course  of  books  from  Genesis  on. 
God  is  guiding  the  nation,  and  the  events  of  history  work 
out  his  will.  (2)  In  the  vivid  pictures  of  the  great  charac- 
ters which  are  presented — Solomon,  Josiah,  Hezekiah,  and 
especially  the  prophets  Elijah,  Elisha,  and  Isaiah.  (3)  In 
the  truth  of  the  author's  thought,  however  much  we  may 
wish  to  modify  his  particular  application  of  it,  that  the 
final  judgment  of  men  does  not  depend  on  the  measure  of 
their  success,  but  on  their  attitude  toward  God. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  are  the  subjects  dealt  with  in  the  account  of  Solomon's 

reign,  i  Kings  i-ii  ? 

2.  How  is  the  Deuteronomic  point  of  view  shown  in  i   Kings  11. 

1-13,  2  Kings  17? 

3.  What   are  the   formulas   used   for  the   beginning  and   the   close 

of  the  accounts  of  the  Kings?  What  differences  between 
those  for  Judah  and  Israel?  What  the  estimate  of  each  king? 
(See  2  Kings  I4ff.) 

4.  Read    any    three    chapters    of    the    Elisha    and    Elijah    stories, 

I  Kings  17  to  2  Kings  8.  What  qualities  of  popular  stories  in 
them?  How  does  i  Kings  21  show  the  prophetic  attitude 
toward  social   questions? 

5.  In  the  sections  read  from  Samuel  and  Kings,  which  are  the  most 

striking  literary  passages?     Which  show  the  author's  purpose? 

6.  What  are  the  great  religious  conceptions  of  Samuel  and  Kings, 

and  what  passages  in  your  reading  show  them? 

7.  Estimate  these  books  as  (0)  literature,  (b)  history,  (c)  religious 

teaching. 

8.  How  would  a  modern  historian's  use  of  the  same  accounts  differ 

from  that  of  these  books? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
CHRONICLES,  EZRA,  AND  NEHEMIAH 

There  are  two  series  of  histories  of  Israel  in  the  Old 
Testament.  One  is  the  series  of  books  from  Genesis  to 
Kings ;  the  other  the  books  of  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehe- 
miah.  The  first  series  is  composed  of  at  least  three  separate 
works — the  Hexateuch,  Judges,  and  Samuel-Kings.  The 
second  was  originally  a  single  book,  from  one  author.  Both 
begin  with  Adam,  but  the  second  series  covers  the  time  be- 
fore the  kingdom  merely  by  genealogies,  omitting  all  the 
stories  which  made  the  early  books  of  the  other  series  such 
excellent  literature.  The  real  history  begins  with  David. 
The  books  of  Chronicles  duplicate  2  Samuel  and  Kings; 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  contain  postexilic  history  not  covered 
in  the  first  series. 

On  the  whole,  the  first  series  may  be  called  prophetic, 
although  the  priestly  element  appears  in  the  source  P  of 
the  Hexateuch.  In  the  second  series  there  is  an  entirely 
different  atmosphere.  The  book  is  strongly  priestly.  In- 
stead of  the  great  prophetic  teachings  of  the  relation  of 
sin  and  suffering,  of  Jehovah's  guidance  in  history,  of  pros- 
perity as  dependent  on  the  nation's  service  of  the  God,  the 
writer's  attention  was  engrossed  with  the  ritual  worship  of 
the  temple.  He  began  with  David,  because  that  king  pre- 
pared for  the  building  of  the  temple.  He  narrated  at  great 
length  the  traditions  about  the  ark  before  the  temple  was 
built;  expanded  the  description  of  the  dedication  of  the 
temple  from  the  already  long  account  in  Kings ;  inserted  lists 
of  Levites,  priests,  and  temple  singers,  and  long  descriptions 
of  the  institutions  and  services  of  the  temple.  So  much 
attention  is  given  to  the  temple  choir  that  some  have  sup- 

142 


CHRONICLES,   EZRA,   AND   NEHEMIAH     143 

posed  the  author  himself  must  have  belonged  to  the  guild  of 
singers. 

Not  only  the  purpose  of  the  book,  but  also  its  content  is 
different.  Almost  nothing  is  given  about  the  kingdom  of 
Israel.  Its  kings  are  mentioned  only  when  they  come  in 
contact  with  the  kings  of  Judah,  The  book  is  almost  exclu- 
sively a  history  of  Judah,  from  the  point  of  view  of  its 
institutional  religion.  Most  of  the  personal  history  of 
David,  Solomon,  and  the  other  kings,  is  left  out.  We  miss 
the  charming  popular  tales  which  made  the  books  of  Samuel 
such  perennial  sources  of  story  literature.  The  secular 
events  of  the  history  are  wholly  subordinated  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical. Only  one  poem  is  introduced,  and  that  is  a  psalm 
said  to  have  been  sung  when  the  ark  was  brought  to  Jeru- 
salem. 

The  sources  of  Chronicles  are  in  the  main  our  books  of 
Samuel  and  Kings.  This  book  furnishes  the  classic  illustra- 
tion of  the  compilation  of  Hebrew  history  from  earlier 
sources.  It  is  possible  here  to  see  how  closely  the  compiler 
followed  his  sources  and  what  changes  he  made.  Aside 
from  Samuel-Kings,  the  chronicler  uses  several  other  books. 
He  cites  by  name  twelve  sources,  several  of  which  are 
probably  different  terms  for  the  same  books,  but  he  evidently 
had  at  least  the  following  books :  ( i )  the  canonical  histories, 
the  Hexateuch,  Samuel  and  Kings;  (2)  a  Book  of  Kings 
of  Judah  and  Israel,  containing  some  material  not  in  the 
canonical  books;  (3)  a  midrash,  or  edifying  expansion,  of 
these  books;  (4)  a  collection  of  writings  bearing  the  names 
of  the  earlier  prophets  Nathan,  Gad,  Iddo,  and  others;  (5) 
the  book  of  Isaiah.  Whether  his  abundant  additions  in  the 
interest  of  temple,  priests,  and  Levites  had  any  source  in 
temple  traditions,  or  whether  they  represent  what  he,  with 
his  priestly  ideas  of  the  ritual,  conceives  ought  to  have 
been  true,  no  one  can  say.  This  new  matter  is  mostly 
concerned  with  (i)  Hsts  of  genealogies;  (2)  lists  of 
names  of  Levites,  temple  singers,  and  priests;   (3)   state- 


144  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

ments  about  the  organization  of  worship ;  (4)  comments  on 
history,  sliowing  moral  causes  of  events  or  explaining  what 
were  to  him  difficulties.  He  does  not,  like  the  writers  of 
the  early  books,  tell  a  story  and  trust  it  to  make  its  own 
moral  impress,  but  he  points  the  moral,  so  that  no  dullard 
can  miss  it,  as  when  he  adds  to  the  affecting  tale  of  Saul's 
death,  borrowed  from  the  writer  of  Samuel,  a  comment  that 
his  fall  was  due  to  his  disobedience  of  the  command  of  God 
(i  Chron  10.  I3f.)- 

The  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  show  the  same  priestly 
interest.  The  former  sources  fail  the  writer  here,  but  the 
material  which  he  gathers  is  all  narrated  from  the  point  of 
view  of  one  who  regards  the  institutions  of  religion  as  of 
prime  importance.  The  sources  purport  to  be  certain  official 
records,  with  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  Ezra 
4.  8  to  6.  18  is  in  Aramaic,  probably  indicating  that  the  sec- 
tion was  taken  from  a  book  in  that  language. 

No  part  of  the  Bible  is  at  present  subject  to  a  wider  range 
of  interpretations  than  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 
The  student  of  history  must  at  least  change  the  order  of  the 
chapters  somewhat  to  make  intelligible  history  out  of  them, 
and  most  think  that  there  must  be  still  more  radical  changes. 
For  the  student  of  literature  the  most  important  question 
is:  What  is  the  nature  of  the  memoirs  of  Ezra?  They  are 
quoted  by  the  chronicler  in  the  first  person,  as  though  he 
made  extracts  from  the  writing  of  Ezra  himself.  If  that 
is  the  case,  he  has  preserved  for  us  a  most  important 
and  interesting  original  document.  But  it  is  curious  that 
the  style  of  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  is  very  much  the  style  of 
the  chronicler  himself,  as  one  finds  it  in  the  portions  of 
Chronicles  which  come  from  his  pen.  Has  the  writer  of 
Chronicles  thrown  his  account  of  the  time  of  Ezra  into  the 
form  of  a  personal  memoir?  If  so,  does  it  represent  what 
took  place,  or  what  the  chronicler,  writing  two  or  three 
hundred  years  later,  supposed  took  place?  Did  Ezra  ever 
live,  or  is  he  the  idealized  figure  of  the  typical  priestly  re- 


CHRONICLES,   EZRA,   AND   NEHEMIAH     145 

former,  projected  by  the  religious  fervor  of  the  chronicler? 
These  questions  have  been  raised  within  the  last  few  years, 
and  doubtless  further  study  will  find  an  answer,  but  at 
present  they  are  still  open  questions. 

The  case  regarding  the  memoir  of  Nehemiah  is  very 
different.  That  is  also  in  the  first  person,  and  is  written  in 
totally  different  style  from  that  of  the  chronicler,  with  a 
different  point  of  view,  presenting  a  personality  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imitate,  and  still  more  to  invent;  the 
work  of  an  honest,  sincere  man,  who  frankly  tells  what  he 
did  and  how  he  did  it,  and  naively  hopes  God  will  remember 
the  labors  through  which  he  has  gone.  No  Old  Testament 
prose  writing  is  more  of  a  "human  document"  than  this 
simple  story  of  the  courtier  and  patriot  who  built  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem.  If  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  are  the  production 
of  the  Chronicler,  then  we  can  see  in  that  of  Nehemiah 
where  he  found  his  model. 

As  an  historian  the  Chronicler  leaves  much  to  be  desired. 
His  history  is  incomplete  and  one-sided.  He  systematically 
idealizes.  Judah  is  too  populous  and  prosperous.  His 
figures  are  sometimes  impossibly  large  (see  i  Chron  22.  14). 
His  heroes,  like  David  and  Solomon,  are  presented  as  nearly 
blameless  as  possible.  The  religious  institutions  of  his  day 
are  ascribed  in  their  completeness  to  the  time  of  David.  The 
Chronicler  has  idealized  history  more  than  any  other  biblical 
writer.  It  follows  that,  wherever  both  cover  the  same 
ground,  the  earlier  writers  are  to  be  used  in  preference  to 
Chronicles.  On  the  other  hand,  the  memoir  of  Nehemiah 
is  an  original  historical  writing  of  great  value,  both  as  his- 
tory and  as  literature. 

The  date  of  these  books  is  certainly  very  late.  The 
arrangements  of  the  temple  worship  made  by  Nehemiah  in 
444  had  already  stood  so  long  that  the  writer  supposed  they 
came  from  the  time  of  David.  A  list  of  the  descendants  of 
Zerubbabel,  governor  of  Judah  at  the  return  in  536,  is  given 
in   I    Chron  3.    19-24.     Six  generations   are   listed,   which, 


146  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

allowing  thirty  years  for  a  generation,  would  bring  the  list 
down  to  about  350;  we  may  assume  that  the  writer  would 
bring  such  a  list  to  his  own  time.  But  the  LXX,  by  reading 
"his  son"  instead  of  "sons  of"  in  v.  21,  gives  eleven  genera- 
tions, which  would  bring  the  date  down  to  about  200.  An- 
other indication  of  later  date  is  that  Neh  12.  11  gives,  as 
the  last  name  in  a  list  of  priests,  Jaddua,  the  name  which 
Josephus  assigns  to  the  high  priest  in  the  time  of  Alexan- 
der's conquest  in  332.  That  late  date  gives  the  work  a 
special  interest.  It  may  not  be  of  the  highest  value  as  a 
history  of  times  long  past,  but  it  is  of  great  interest  as 
showing  what  were  the  conceptions  and  ideals  of  a  priestly 
Jew  of  the  third  century  before  Christ.  In  these  books 
we  first  catch  a  picture  of  the  Judaism  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment period,  intensely  religious,  deeply  earnest,  proud  of 
its  past,  insistent  upon  the  ritual  of  religion,  but  legalistic 
rather  than  prophetic.  The  spirit  of  the  Chronicler,  with 
its  excellencies  and  defects,  was  the  spirit  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  of  the  New  Testament  period. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Compare   i   Chron   13,   15  and   16  with  2   Sam  6,  noting  char- 

acteristic changes  and  additions. 

2.  Compare   i   Chron   17  and  2  Sam  7;  2  Chron    14  to   16  and   i 

Kings  15.  8-34. 

3.  Read  Ezra  9.  i  to  10.  17.     What  are  the  ideals  presented? 

4.  Read  Neh  i,  2,  4,  5,  6,  13  for  (a)  the  character  of  the  writer, 

(b)  his  national  and  religious  ideals. 

5.  In    the    passages    read,    how    does    Chronicles    compare    with 

Samuel-Kings  in  purpose  and  point  of  view? 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  SHORT  STORIES 

Ruth,  Jonah,  Esther 

These  three  books,  found  in  different  parts  of  our  English 
Bible,  fall  into  the  same  class  as  literature.  They  represent 
the  short  story.  They  differ  from  the  folk-tale  in  being  less 
simple  and  naive  in  form.  They  are  literary  in  style,  more 
or  less  elaborate  in  plot,  and  issue  in  a  definite  climax. 
They  are  literary  works,  not  the  mere  transcription  of  popu- 
lar tales.  From  what  we  know  of  literary  methods  in  Israel, 
we  should  hardly  expect  free  invention  on  the  part  of 
writers,  and  each  of  the  stories  seems  to  be  based  on  older 
traditions.  The  chief  interest,  however,  lies,  not  in  the 
question  of  the  remote  origin  of  the  story,  but  in  its  literary 
development  and  the  purpose  of  the  writer.  The  literary 
development  is  skillfully  managed.  Each  story  is  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind  from  the  others,  and  each  is  excellent  in  its  class. 
The  purpose  of  the  writer  is  practical.  The  ancient  Hebrews 
were  not  conscious  artists,  and  in  none  of  the  biblical  books 
is  the  merely  artistic  impulse  an  adequate  explanation  of 
the  writer's  purpose.  He  wants  to  leave  some  impression, 
to  teach  some  lesson.  While,  therefore,  the  literary  form 
is  of  interest,  the  real  significance  of  the  book  lies  in  the 
author's  object. 

Ruth 

In  the  Hebrew  Bible  this  story  is  one  of  a  group  of  five 
small  books  called  the  Megilloth,  or  Rolls.  The  LXX 
scattered  this  collection,  and  placed  this  story  after  the  book 
of  Judges. 

The  story  of  Ruth  is  an  idyl.  It  is  set  in  the  rough,  wild 
times  of  the  Judges.     We  have  stories  coming  from  that 

147 


148  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

time  in  the  book  of  Judges,  and  they  show  a  rude,  barbaric 
people,  whose  native  element  is  war  and  plunder.  In  the 
story  of  Ruth  an  Arcadian  simplicity  prevails,  and  we  follow 
the  simple  fortunes  of  a  Judaean  family.  No  evil  character 
comes  on  the  scene.  Scarcely  a  suspicion  of  anything  but 
the  utmost  innocence  is  allowed  to  cross  the  page.  The 
characters  are  all  simple,  open,  affectionate,  pious. 

The  date  is  far  later  than  the  period  of  the  Judges.  The 
author,  looking  back,  idealizes  that  period,  and  finds  it 
necessary  to  explain  old  customs  (4.  7).  Some  of  the 
linguistic  peculiarities  of  the  book  point  toward  a  late  date. 
In  reading  the  story,  note  the  skill  with  which  it  centers 
everything  about  its  heroine,  Ruth ;  the  abundant  use  of 
detail ;  the  pictures  of  rural  life ;  the  climax  at  the  end,  where 
the  Moabitish  maiden  becomes  the  ancestress  of  the  great 
national  hero,  David.  In  a  sense,  it  is  a  poem.  Hebrew 
had  no  narrative  poetry,  and  when  an  author  would  treat 
narrative  in  a  poetic  spirit  he  put  the  narrative  in  prose,  and 
the  oracle,  or  saying,  which  made  the  central  idea  of  the 
story,  in  verse.  See  how  in  i.  16,  17  Ruth's  speech  is  in 
Hebrew  poetry,  a  series  of  couplets  with  parallelism.  This 
passage  gives  the  central  theme  of  the  book — Ruth's  choice 
of  Naomi,  of  her  nation  and  her  God ;  the  rest  of  the  book 
skillfully  develops  the  theme. 

The  book  was  probably  based  upon  some  tradition.  A  late 
Jewish  writer  would  have  been  bold  indeed  to  have  given 
David  a  foreign  ancestress  unless  there  was  some  ground 
in  tradition  for  it.  In  i  Sam.  22.  3,  4  it  is  related  that  David 
sent  his  father  and  mother  to  Aloab  for  safety  from  Saul's 
anger,  a  natural  act  if  the  family  were  partly  Moabitish. 
The  full  story,  however,  is  a  late  development.  The  names 
are  in  part  symbolic,  and  Naomi,  "pleasant" ;  Mahlon  and 
Chilion,  "sickly"  and  "wasting,"  mark  an  idealized  story. 

The  interest  of  the  story  lies  in  ( i )  its  literary  charm ; 
(2)  the  beauty  of  the  characters  portrayed,  especially  that 
of  Ruth  ;  (3)  the  writer's  purpose.    What  was  this  purpose? 


THE  SHORT  STORIES  149 

It  has  been  suggested  that  it  was  to  preserve  a  tradition 
about  David ;  but  such  purely  historical  interest  is  not  in 
accord  with  the  trend  of  Hebrew  literature.  It  also  illus- 
trates family  affection  and  devotion  to  old  customs,  like  the 
duty  of  the  next  of  kin ;  but  it  is  possible  that  the  central 
purpose  of  the  book  is  more  definite  than  that.  The  center 
of  the  story  is  the  nobility  of  the  foreign  Ruth  and  her 
welcome  to  the  position  of  Hebrew  wife.  It  may  well  be 
a  defense  of  foreign  marriages.  If  so,  that  furnishes  a 
clue  to  the  circumstances  of  its  origin.  Ezra  9,  10  and  Neh 
13.  23-31  tell  how,  after  the  exile,  the  Jews  had  married 
foreign  wives,  but  the  families  were  separated  by  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  and  the  wives  and  children  sent  away.  There 
must  have  been  many  who  deeply  resented  the  breaking  up 
of  happy  homes  in  this  way,  and  Ruth  may  have  been  written 
in  protest  against  the  cruel  Puritanism.  The  author  would 
show  that  this  new  rigidity  had  no  ancient  sanction.  There 
was  a  tradition  that  even  David  was  of  mixed  blood.  The 
writer  uses  the  tradition,  and  draws  the  character  of  Ruth 
so  attractively  that  he  needs  to  add  no  plea  for  foreign 
marriages.  His  heroine  does  that  for  him,  in  her  sweetness 
and  simplicity,  in  her  devotion  to  Jehovah,  far  better  than 
any  argument.  And  when  the  foreigner  is  married  to  a 
Hebrew,  the  village  elders  add  their  blessing  in  the  name  of 
the  God  of  Israel,  who  is  now  being  invoked  to  drive  away 
wives  as  worthy  and  well  beloved  as  was  Ruth,  If  this  was 
the  origin  of  the  book,  its  date  falls  between  458  and  390. 
This  seems  the  most  probable  theory  of  its  origin  and  pur- 
pose. In  any  case,  the  story  presents  a  literary  charm  and  a 
breadth  of  view  which  will  always  make  it  one  of  the  most 
attractive  books  in  Hebrew  literature.  Brief  as  it  is,  it  is  a 
masterpiece  in  its  own  field. 

Jonah 

Many  books  of  the  Bible  have  been  neglected ;  this  book 
has  been  degraded.    Serious  discussions  have  been  too  often 


I50  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

concerned  with  the  trivial  question  of  its  historical  char- 
acter, and  the  story  of  Jonah  and  the  fish  has  served  only  as 
a  poor  joke.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  book  contains  the 
most  lofty  teaching  about  God  in  all  the  Old  Testament.  It 
is  well  worth  serious  study.  The  book  stands,  both  in 
Hebrew  and  English,  among  the  prophets  ;  but  this  is  only 
because  it  is  a  story  about  a  prophet.  It  contains  only  one 
prophetic  utterance,  the  summary  of  Jonah's  message  to 
Nineveh,  "Yet  forty  days  and  Nineveh  shall  be  destroyed." 
The  first  step  in  the  study  of  this  book  is  to  read  it  through 
as  a  short  story.  Note  its  vividness,  its  richness  of  detail, 
its  rapidity  of  movement,  its  characterization  of  Jonah.  Does 
the  writer  mean  to  make  his  hero  ridiculous?  The  poem 
in  2.  2-9  is  a  mosaic  of  passages  from  postexilic  Psalms,  and 
is  sometimes  supposed  to  be  a  later  addition.  The  whole 
book  is  postexilic.  The  term  "king  of  Nineveh"  was,  so  far 
as  known,  not  used  during  the  existence  of  the  Assyrian 
empire.  The  picture  of  the  king — and  no  ancient  kings  were 
more  haughty  than  those  of  Assyria — coming  down  from  his 
throne  at  the  bidding  of  a  Hebrew  prophet ;  of  the  whole 
city  moved  at  the  preaching  of  this  provincial  from  an  out- 
lying province,  so  that  the  very  cattle  were  placed  in  mourn- 
ing  (3-  7)  8)'  is  easiest  to  explain  if  told  of  a  distant  and 
unfamiliar  past.  Nineveh  was  no  longer  in  existence  at 
the  time  of  writing  (3.  3).  The  idioms  and  vocabulary  of 
the  book  are  late  Hebrew.  Their  affiliations  are  not  with 
the  preexilic  prophets,  but  with  the  later  books,  like  Ecclesi- 
astes.  The  name  Jonah  is  found  in  2  Kings  14.  25,  where 
he  is  said  to  have  prophesied  the  expansion  of  Israel  under 
Jeroboam  II.  He  must,  then,  have  spoken  somewhat  before 
the  time  of  Amos,  whose  date  is  760  B.  C.  This  book  can 
hardly  have  been  written  before  450,  and  may  be  much 
later.  We  shall  not  expect  to  find  accurate  history  in  this 
tale  whose  scene  was  laid  three  or  four  hundred  years  before. 
Why  suppose  that  the  author  ever  intended  it  to  be  taken  as 
history?     No  one  ever  would  have  supposed  it  except  for 


THE  SHORT  STORIES  151 

a  somewhat  mechanical  view  that  all  the  Bible  must  be 
exact  history.  This  writer  has  written  "fiction"  across  his 
little  story  as  plainly  as  possible.  We  may  well  suppose 
that  he  would  be  amazed  to  know  that  anyone  ever  discussed 
the  possible  historical  verity  of  the  fish  swallowing  Jonah ; 
and  he  would  be  saddened  to  think  that  such  futile  discus- 
sions had  obscured  the  great  lessons  he  wished  to  teach.  If 
Christ  used  fiction  in  parables,  why  should  not  a  Hebrew 
teacher  use  it  in  short  stories  ? 

What,  then,  is  the  writer's  purpose?  Various  purposes 
have  been  suggested,  all  representing  phases  of  the  same 
idea. 

1.  The  universal  compassion  of  God,  who  hears  whenever 
men  cry  to  him.  In  ch.  i  the  sailors  call  upon  God,  and  he 
saves  them ;  in  ch.  2  Jonah  calls  upon  God,  and  he  saves 
him;  in  ch.  3  the  Ninevites  call  upon  God,  and  he  saves 
them;  in  ch.  4  God  proclaims  his  compassion  upon  all  the 
helpless,  even  the  beasts. 

2.  The  conditional  element  in  prophecy.  God  condemns ; 
but  if  men  will  turn  to  him,  he  will  gladly  transform  con- 
demnation into  blessing. 

3.  An  allegory  of  the  mission  of  Israel.  God  sends  Israel 
to  the  Gentile  world,  but  Israel  is  too  exclusive  to  welcome 
its  mission,  therefore  it  was  swallowed  up  by  Babylon,  as 
by  a  great  sea  monster.  But  Israel  had  come  out  of  the 
exile,  and  now  God  gave  it  a  mission  again.  Would  it  obey, 
or  would  it  childishly  pout  and  fret  because  God  was  com- 
passionate to  other  nations  as  well  as  to  Israel? 

4.  The  universal  compassion  of  God,  an  idea  much  like 
3,  but  not  emphasizing  elements  of  allegory.  Jonah  is  the 
type  of  exclusive  Israel,  who  cannot  see  how  great  is  God's 
compassion.  It  is  the  earliest  representation  of  the  thought 
of  the  universalism  of  Paul — "to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to 
the  Gentile."  Notice  the  humorous  sarcasm  in  the  picture 
of  the  selfish  Jonah.  Notice  the  skill  of  the  writer  in  making 
the   capital   of   the   .\ss}rian   empire,    whose   memory   was 


152  THE   BIBLE  AS   LITERATURE 

execrated  by  all  Jews,  the  recipient  of  God's  love.  If  God 
could  care  for  Ninevites,  certainly  no  one  can  be  excluded 
from  his  compassion.  Nowhere  else  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  there  such  a  lofty  conception  of  the  all-embracing  love  of 
God. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  writer  doubtless  is  to  draw  a 
sharp  contrast  between  God's  wide  love  and  man's  selfish 
exclusiveness.  All  the  suggestions  above  are  phases  of  this 
thought.  The  occasion  for  the  book  may  be  the  separation 
of  foreign  wives  from  Israel's  households,  in  the  time  of 
Nehemiah  and  Ezra,  and  the  book  may  be,  with  Ruth,  a 
protest  against  this  Jewish  Puritanism.  This  would  fix  its 
date  between  450  and  390.  The  language,  however,  seems 
to  point  to  a  later  date,  perhaps  300.  Whenever  written, 
this  little  story,  grotesque  and  awkward  as  are  some  of  the 
devices  of  its  author,  is  the  crown  of  the  Old  Testament 
conception  of  God. 

Esther 

This  story,  like  Ruth,  is  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  one  of  the 
Megilloth.  The  LXX  editors,  who  put  Ruth  after  Judges, 
put  Esther  after  Nehemiah,  attempting  to  arrange  the  books 
according  to  the  chronology  of  their  contents.  This  story 
is  totally  unlike  the  others.  In  place  of  the  idyllic  rustic 
simplicity  of  Ruth,  we  have  the  splendor  and  the  intrigues  of 
an  imperial  court ;  instead  of  the  abundant  use  of  the  super- 
natural in  Jonah,  not  even  the  mention  of  the  name  of  God  or 
any  suggestion  of  miracle.  The  whole  story  lies  in  the  bare 
levels  of  human  plot  and  scheming. 

Of  these  three  stories,  this  is  the  most  dramatic.  It  is 
full  of  unexpected  turns  and  shifting  scenes.  In  this  dra- 
matic character  lies  the  appeal  of  the  story  as  literature. 
There  is  also  abundance  of  detail,  especially  where  the 
writer  attempts  to  describe  the  Persian  court  and  its  splen- 
dors. Read  the  book  for  the  skillful  development  of  a  plot 
of  Oriental  intrigue  and  indirection. 

In  this  book  also  is  raised  the  question  of  its  historical 


THE  SHORT  STORIES  153 

value.  Certain  things  are  on  their  face  vuihistorical.  The 
story  is  laid  in  the  third  year  of  Xerxes  (485-465), 
the  Persian  king  who  invaded  Greece.  Mordecai,  who 
later  became  viceroy,  is  said  to  have  been  among  the  cap- 
tives in  the  first  captivity  of  Jerusalem,  in  597  (2.  6).  How 
old  does  the  author  suppose  him  to  have  been?  Herodotus 
says  that  the  queens  of  Persia  were  chosen  from  one  of  the 
seven  noble  families,  and  gives  the  name  of  the  queen  of 
Xerxes  as  Amestris.  She  was  certainly  neither  Vashti  nor 
Esther  (Her,  HI,  84;  VII,  114;  IX,  112).  It  is  possible  that 
some  Jewish  maiden  may  have  been  a  favorite  in  the  court, 
but  that  does  not  satisfy  the  conditions  of  the  story,  where 
Esther  is  queen.  Since  truth  is  sometimes  stranger  than 
fiction,  it  might  not  be  fair  to  bring  as  an  objection  the 
dramatic  coincidence  of  Haman,  coming  to  obtain  permis- 
sion to  hang  Mordecai,  and  compelled  by  a  series  of  coinci- 
dences to  be  the  herald  of  his  enemy's  honor  on  the  streets 
of  the  city.  One  can  only  say  that  Oriental  story-tellers  have 
always  found  a  peculiar  delight  in  such  situations,  which  the 
kaleidoscopic  changes  of  Eastern  courts  make  possible.  Of 
late  years  a  mythological  origin  of  the  story  has  been  sug- 
gested. Attempts  have  been  made  to  trace  it  to  a  Babylo- 
nian myth.  The  proper  names  certainly  suggest  Babylonian 
origin.  Mordecai  is  derived  from  the  Babylonian  god 
Marduk ;  Esther  suggests  Ishtar,  and  Haman  and  Vashti, 
an  Elamite  god  and  goddess,  Hammun  and  Masti.  The 
myth  behind  the  story  would  then  represent  the  conflict 
between  the  gods  of  Babylonia  and  of  Elam.  While  this 
may  be  probable,  it  is  at  best  a  theory,  and  the  myth  has 
traveled  a  long  road  before  it  has  been  embodied  in  this 
dramatic  story.  This  whole  problem  of  a  mythical  origin 
belongs  rather  to  the  field  of  comparative  mythology  than 
of  biblical  literature.  Here  we  are  interested  rather  in  the 
qualities  of  the  story  and  in  the  author's  purpose. 

The  dramatic  quality  of  the  story  has  been  spoken  of 
above.     It  is  a  story  of  incident  rather  than,  like  Ruth,  of 


154  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

character.  From  a  Western  point  of  view  the  queen  Vashti, 
who  dared  maintain  her  womanly  dignity  in  the  face  of  a 
drunken  monarch's  demand,  is  the  noblest  character  in  the 
book,  but  we  may  be  sure  that  the  author  did  not  so  intend. 
There  are  elements  of  nobility  in  Esther.  She  takes  her  life 
in  her  hand  to  save  her  people,  after  her  uncle  has  driven  her 
to  it.  But,  after  all,  it  is  about  events,  not  persons,  that  the 
interest  of  the  story  gathers.  No  biblical  stor}^  writer  uses 
such  a  mass  of  events  and  weaves  them  together  so  skill- 
fully as  the  writer  of  this  tale. 

The  purpose  of  the  story  is  obvious.  It  is  to  tell  the 
traditional  origin  of  the  feast  of  Purim.  The  writer  derives 
the  name  from  a  Persian  word,  pur,  meaning  lot  (9.  24)  ; 
but  no  such  word  is  known  in  ancient  Persian.  The  LXX 
gives  as  the  name  of  the  feast  Phrourim.  There  was  a 
Persian  feast  of  the  dead,  Farwardigan,  with  which  Purim 
has  sometimes  been  connected.  A  Babylonian  New  Year's 
feast  has  also  been  suggested  as  a  possible  origin.  Undoubt- 
edly it  was  borrowed  from  some  source,  and  adapted  to 
Jewish  uses.  Most  religious  festivals  in  the  higher  religions 
have  been  borrowed  and  adapted ;  Christmas  is  a  good  illus- 
tration. Purim  is  first  mentioned  under  the  name  of  "the 
day  of  Mordecai,"  in  2  Maccabees  15.  36,  written  in  the  first 
century  B.  C.  The  feast  was  not  looked  upon  with  favor 
by  the  Jews,  because  of  its  roystering  character.  Later,  in 
the  days  when  Christians  persecuted  the  Jews,  it  came  to 
be  an  occasion  for  the  expression  of  the  growing  hate  of 
Gentiles,  and  was  extremely  popular.  The  book  of  Esther, 
which  was  not  regarded  as  unquestionably  a  part  of  the 
Scriptures  till  after  the  first  Christian  century,  became  also 
very  popular,  and  is  always  read  at  Purim. 

Objection  to  the  moral  tone  of  the  book  has  been  made 
from  the  days  when  the  Jewish  rabbis  first  discussed  whether 
it  ought  to  be  in  the  canon.  It  is  easy  to  find  moral  faults. 
Esther  is  asked,  after  a  day  of  massacre,  what  she  desires, 
and  she  promptly  asks  for  another  day  of  killing.     There 


THE  SHORT  STORIES  155 

is  no  open  religious  interest.  Not  only  is  the  name  of  God 
omitted,  but  prayer,  humility,  thanks  to  God,  are  lacking. 
On  the  occasion  of  a  great  national  deliverance,  instead  of 
gratitude  to  God,  the  Jews  send  gifts  to  one  another,  with 
feasting  "and  a  good  day." 

Yet  there  is  another  side.  Could  any  Jew,  it  is  asked,  have 
failed  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  the  sleepless  night  of  the 
king?  Can  a  great  deliverance  come  to  the  nation,  and 
Jehovah  not  have  done  it  ?  Any  Jew  would  have  ihought  of 
God  as  standing  behind  all  this  story. 

Of  the  date,  one  can  only  say  that  it  is  very  late.  The 
writer  of  Ecclesiasticus  (180  B.  C.)  gives  a  list  of  Jewish 
worthies,  but  does  not  mention  Mordecai.  We  have  seen 
that  the  writer  of  2  Mac  knows  the  name.  The  second 
century  B.  C.  may  be  the  period  when  the  book  was  written. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Write  a  brief  summary  of  each  of  the  short  stories,  trying  to 

do  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  out  the  author's  purpose. 

2.  Considered  as  short  stories,  which  is  the  best,  and  why? 

3.  What  is  the  most  attractive  quality  in  each  story? 

4.  Does  the  writer  intend  to  make  Jonah  ludicrous?     If  so,  why? 

5.  Does  the  use  of  the  supernatural  detract  from  the  power  of  the 

story  of  Jonah,  or  enhance  it? 

6.  Write  Ruth  i.  16,  17  in  verse  form. 

7.  Is    the    book    of    Esther    "cruel    and    bloodthirsty,    breathing    a 

spirit  of  vengeance  and  hatred,"  or  is  it  noble  and  patriotic, 
and  filled  with  the  presence  of  God? 

8.  Is  Esther  the  queen  a  noble  character? 

9.  What    were    the    Hebrew    religious    values    of    each    of    these 

books?     What  are  their  present  religious  values? 


THE  BOOKS  OF  POETRY  AND  WISDOM 


^57 


CHAPTER  XXI 

HEBREW   POETRY   AND   WISDOM 

I,     Hebrew  Poetry 

The  essence  of  poetry  is  rhythm.  At  the  lowest,  poetry 
is  words  put  in  rhythmical  form.  Among  primitive  races 
the  mere  pleasure  of  the  rhythmical  flow  suffices  to  give 
permanent  remembrance  to  the  verse,  as  is  the  case  also 
with  some  children's  rhymes.  Rhythmical  flow  suggests 
emotion,  and  very  early  men  began  using  rhythm  to  ex- 
press or  increase  the  emotions  of  situations  in  life ;  so  that 
poetry  came  to  be  particularly  the  language  of  the  emotions ; 
of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  triumph  and  defeat,  of  the  love  of  a 
mother  and  the  tribal  pride  in  a  great  hero.  When  the 
worship  of  the  gods  became  emotional,  then  praise  and 
prayer  were  expressed  in  poetry.  As  the  god  became  greater 
with  the  growth  of  the  nation,  the  religious  poems  in  his 
praise  became  more  lofty  and  more  formal.  Most  great 
religions  possess  a  rich  body  of  religious  poetry,  in  which 
the  highest  ideals  of  the  religion  find  expression,  and  the 
Hebrew  religion  is  no  exception. 

Rhythm  of  words  is  expressed  in  two  main  ways ;  by  feet, 
measured  by  the  length  of  syllables,  as  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  poetry,  and  by  stress  of  accent,  as  in  some  German 
and  English  poetry.  The  whole  subject  of  Hebrew  meter 
is  still  under  discussion,  and  there  is  as  yet  no  single  system 
on  which  all  agree,  but  it  is  generally  held  that  the  rhythm 
is  accentual,  a  line  consisting  of  a  series  of  syllables  falling 
into  an  ordered  succession  of  accent  beats.  An  illustration 
in  English  of  this  kind  of  accented  verse  is : 

He  made  darkness  his  hiding  place,  his  pavilion  about  him, 
Darkness  of  waters,  thick  clouds  of  the  skies  (see  Psa  i8.  ii). 

159 


i6o  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

The  rhythm  of  words,  however,  can  seldom  be  successfully 
translated  from  one  language  to  another.  The  student  of 
poetry  in  translation  must  depend  for  the  poetic  appeal 
largely  on  beauty  of  thought.  Here  Hebrew  poetry  has  a 
great  advantage  over  that  of  European  literatures.  It  pos- 
sesses a  rhythm  of  thought,  as  well  as  of  words ;  so  that  it 
is  possible  to  keep  the  essential  poetical  form  of  Hebrew 
poetry  in  translation.  In  a  literature  destined  for  world- 
wide use  this  is  a  great  literary  asset. 

This  rhythm  of  thought  is  commonly  known  as  parallelism. 
It  consists  of  a  relation  of  thought  between  two  or  more 
consecutive  lines  of  verse.  Four  kinds  of  parallelism  are 
usually  recognized : 

1.  Synonymous ;  where  the  same  thought  is  expressed  in  two 
or  more  lines. 

2.  Antithetic ;   where  contrasting  thoughts  are  expressed. 

3.  Synthetic ;  where  the  second  line  continues  and  completes  the 
thought  of  the  first. 

4.  Climactic;  where  the  second  line  takes  up  the  words  of  the 
first  and  adds  to  the  thought. 

The  first  three  of  these  are  about  equally  common  in 
Hebrew  poetry ;  the  fourth  is  very  rare,  and  is  sometimes 
regarded  as  coming  under  the  third.    Examples : 

1.  The  earth  is  Jehovah's  and  the  fullness  thereof; 
The  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein. 

Both  lines  express  one  fundamental  idea.     What  is  it? 

2.  Jehovah  knoweth  the  way  of  the  righteous; 
But  the  way  of  the  wicked  shall  perish. 

The  lines  express  contrasting  fundamental  ideas.  What 
are  they? 

3.  Though   war  should  rise  against  me 
Even  then  will  I  he  confident. 

The  thought  of  the  first  line  is  completed  by  that  of  the 
second. 


HEBREW  POETRY  AND  WISDOM    i6i 

4.    Give  unto  Jehovah,  O  ye  sons  of  the  mighty, 
Give  unto  Jehovah  glory  and  strength. 

This  verse  (Psa  29.  i)  is  one  of  the  very  few  perfect 
examples  of  chmactic  paralleHsm  in  Hebrew  poetry. 

While  parallelism  always  involves  at  least  two  lines,  it 
sometimes  involves  three,  and  occasionally  four  or  more. 
Some  of  the  poems  are  arranged  in  stanzas  of  irregular 
length,  occasionally  with  refrains.  See  Psa  42,  43.  Some 
poems  are  alphabetic  in  arrangement.  AlHteration,  asso- 
nance, and  rhyme  are  occasionally  used,  but  the  universal 
characteristic  of  Hebrew  poetry  is  paralleHsm. 

The  study  of  the  parallelism  of  a  Hebrew  poem  is  im- 
portant for  its  interpretation.  It  calls  for  an  understanding 
of  the  author's  thought.  The  determination  of  whether  a 
particular  parallelism  is  synonymous  or  synthetic  often  de- 
mands a  careful  consideration  of  the  relation  in  which  the 
poet  intended  to  set  two  ideas.  The  appreciation  of  Hebrew 
poetry  is  always  aided  by  attention  to  its  parallelism. 

The  Bible  contains  no  narrative  poetry,  and  no  true  drama. 
Parallelism  would  impede  the  smooth  flow  of  narration. 
When  a  Hebrew  writer  wished  to  treat  a  narration  in  the 
spirit  of  poetry,  he  put  the  narrative  in  prose,  and  the 
speeches,  especially  those  giving  the  key  to  the  narration, 
in  verse.  See  Ruth,  where  i.  16,  17  is  in  verse;  the  story 
of  Balaam,  Num  22  to  24;  and  Job,  where  the  poem  begins 
and  ends  with  a  prose  story.  True  drama  is  lacking  be- 
cause the  Hebrews,  having  no  theater,  had  no  occasion  for 
it.  The  classes  of  Hebrew  poetry  are  lyric,  elegy,  oratory, 
oracles  in  poetic  form  (much  of  the  prophets),  and  gnomic, 
or  didactic  poetry.  The  Psalms,  and  certain  poems  in  the 
historical  books  are  lyric.  Examples  of  elegy  are  Lamenta- 
tions, and  the  lament  of  David  over  Saul,  in  2  Sam  i. 
Gnomic  poetry  is  found  in  the  wisdom  books.  The  subject 
matter  of  biblical  poetry  is  not  all  religious.  It  includes 
fragments  of  folk-songs  connected  with  labor  (Num  21.  17, 


i62  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

i8;  Cant  2.  15)  ;  war  songs  (Gen  4.  23,  24;  Judg  5)  ;  love 
poems  (Canticles).  Among  the  Hebrews,  as  elsewhere, 
all  elements  of  life  which  appealed  strongly  to  the  imagina- 
tion or  the  emotions  were  occasions  for  poetry.  The  Bible 
has  preserved  only  what  became  connected,  directly  or  in- 
directly, with  religion. 

II.     Wisdom  Literature 

The  term  Wisdom  Literature  is  used  to  designate  the 
books  of  Proverbs,  Job,  and  Ecclesiastes ;  and  of  Ecclesias- 
ticus  (or  the  Son  of  Sirach)  and  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
in  the  Apocrypha.  The  same  characteristics  belong  to 
certain  Psalms,  as  15,  37,  49,  and  in  some  measure  to  the 
book  of  James  in  the  New  Testament.  In  discussions  of 
this  subject,  the  Hebrew  word  Hokhmah  (wisdom)  is  often 
used.  Wisdom  is  the  nearest  approach  that  the  Hebrew 
literature  makes  to  philosophy,  but  it  is  not  philosophical  in 
the  technical  sense  of  the  word ;  the  wisdom  writers  are 
not  concerned  with  the  central  problem  of  the  universe, 
but  with  the  particular  problems  of  practical  life.  It  con- 
cerned itself  with  everything.  No  province  of  life  was  too 
lofty,  none  too  humble,  for  Wisdom  to  enter.  It  touches  on 
the  conduct  of  a  king,  the  administration  of  law,  the  training 
of  a  family,  the  ordering  of  a  household,  industry,  honesty, 
sobriety,  agriculture,  friendship,  the  problem  of  suffering, 
the  question  of  whether  life  is  worth  while,  and  many  other 
subjects.  It  furnishes,  on  the  whole,  cool,  keen,  clear-sighted 
criticism  of  life.  It  gives  good  common  sense  advice.  Yet, 
though  dealing  so  largely  with  secular  subjects,  it  is  dis- 
tinctly religious  in  spirit.  It  inculcates  prudence,  shrewd- 
ness, and  industry,  but  always  with  a  consciousness  of  the 
presence  of  God.  A  saying  which  occurs  several  times  is 
that  "the  fear  of  Jehovah  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom." 
All  wisdom  is  based  on  the  thought  of  God  ruling  life.  It 
shows  the  falsity  of  our  division  between  sacred  and  secular. 
All  life  is  subject  to  the  ordering  of  the  Almighty.     "The 


HEBREW  POETRY  AND  WISDOM  163 

lot  is  cast  into  the  lap;  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is 
of  Jehovah." 

The  motive  to  right  action  in  the  wisdom  books  is  plainly 
utilitarian.  It  is  better  to  be  good  than  to  be  bad.  "The 
gift  of  Jehovah  remains  with  the  godly."  It  is  the  pru- 
dential policy,  that  "honesty  is  the  best  policy."  But  when 
held  in  an  unselfish  way  the  prudential  motive  is  not  to  be 
despised.  It  falls  in  with  the  practical  aim  of  this  literature, 
which  was  designed,  not  to  delight  the  aesthete  or  the 
mystic,  but  to  help  plain  people  live  better  lives.  The  dis- 
tinction of  wisdom  among  the  classes  of  Hebrew  literature 
is  its  universalism.  The  national  phrases  which  marked 
the  prophets  are  here  totally  lacking — phrases  like  "Zion," 
"Israel,"  "my  people,"  "saith  Jehovah."  One  hears  nothing 
here  of  a  coming  Messiah,  of  obligations  for  sacrifices  or 
temple  worship.  The  fundamental  ethical  ideas  of  the 
prophets  are  here,  but  stated  rather  as  maxims  of  broad, 
human  morals  than  as  demands  of  a  national  God.  The 
literature  is  the  application  of  common  sense  to  a  religious 
view  of  the  duties  and  problems  of  life. 

The  dates  of  the  Wisdom  literature  will  be  considered  in 
connection  with  each  book.  In  general,  the  literature  is 
late  postexilic.  While  it  is  so  wanting  in  definite  historical 
references  that  exact  dating  is  usually  impossible,  all  evi- 
dences point  to  the  later  Persian  and  Greek  periods,  from 
about  400  to  about  180  B.  C. 


CHAPTER    XXII 
PSALMS 

The  book  of  Psalms  was  the  hymn  book  of  the  second 
temple.  In  the  Hebrew  canon  it  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
third  collection,  the  Writings,  showing  that  it  was  regarded 
as  the  most  important  book  in  the  group.  The  English 
Revised  Version  keeps  the  division  of  the  Hebrew  Psalter 
into  five  books :  i  to  41,  42  to  72,  73  to  89,  90  to  106,  107  to 
150.  Each  book  ends  with  a  doxology,  now  numbered 
among  the  verses  of  the  last  psalm  of  the  book ;  except  the 
final  psalm  of  the  fifth  book,  all  of  which  is  a  doxology. 
This  division  is  old,  dating  from  before  the  LXX  transla- 
tion, but  it  is  artificial.  The  Jewish  rabbis  were  probably 
correct  in  holding  that  it  was  made  in  imitation  of  the  five 
books  of  the  Pentateuch. 

The  real  division  is  into  three  groups : 

(i)  I  to  41,  (2)  42  to  89,  (3)  90  to  150.  (i)  uses  Jehovah 
mostly  for  the  divine  name;  (2)  uses  Elohim  mostly;  (3)  uses 
Jehovah  exclusively,  except  in  108  and  144  to  149.  Psalms  are 
repeated  in  the  different  groups,  sometimes  with  the  divine  name 
changed.  Compare  14  and  53 ;  40.  13-17  and  70.  It  is  evident  that 
the  present  book  of  Psalms  was  made  up  of  three  books,  which 
contained  different  editions  of  a  few  hymns,  and  which  used  by 
preference  different  names  for  God.  Then,  before  the  triple  division 
had  been  forgotten,  some  editor  divided  two  of  the  books,  making 
five  divisions. 

The  growth  of  the  book  can  be  traced  one  step  farther 
back.  The  superscriptions  give  us  traces  of  smaller  groups : 
Psalms  of  Asaph,  Psalms  of  the  Sons  of  Korah,  Psalms  of 
Ascents,  and  Psalms  of  David.     Likenesses  can  sometimes 

164 


PSALMS  165 

be  traced  between  the  Psahns  in  these  groups,  and  it  is 
probable  that  they  indicate  still  earlier  hymn  books,  taken  up 
into  the  three  larger  books. 

The  origin  of  any  particular  psalm  is  often  a  far  more 
complicated  problem.  Some  of  these  poems  probably  con- 
tained few  clues  as  to  date  or  occasion,  when  first  written. 
Some  have  been  edited  for  liturgical  purposes,  and  more  or 
less  changed.  An  example  is  Psa  51,  which  was  originally 
an  anti-priestly  poem  (vv.  16,  17),  but  was  given  a  priestly 
point  of  view  by  the  addition  of  18,  19.  It  is  likely  that 
references  to  special  circumstances  of  origin  have  often 
been  taken  out  to  fit  the  poems  for  general  use.  Sometimes 
two  poems  are  combined  into  one  (Psa  57.  7-1 1  and  60.  5-12 
combined  in  108.  See  Psa  19  for  an  example  of  probable 
combination).  Sometimes  one  poem  is  separated  into  two 
(Psa  42,  43),  The  result  is  that  it  is  often  impossible  to 
tell  when  or  under  what  circumstances  a  poem  was  first 
written.  Would  it  be  possible,  in  a  modern  hymn  book,  to 
date  the  hymns  without  the  aid  of  the  names  of  authors? 

In  some  cases,  as  Psa  137,  the  origin  of  a  psalm  is  very 
evident.  Psa  42,  43  is  usually  assigned  to  the  opening  of 
the  exile,  as  a  song  which  presents  the  memory  of  the 
captives'  journey  from  Palestine  to  Babylon ;  though  it  is 
possible  to  connect  it  with  earlier  captivities  of  parts  of 
northern  Israel.  Other  possible  exilic  psalms  are  102,  89, 
120,  121.  The  exilic  psalms  show  (i)  the  sense  of  suffering; 
(2)  a  confidence  that  God  will  yet  give  his  blessing  to  the 
nation.  After  the  exile  the  religious  life  of  Israel  repre- 
sented so  many  varying  phases  that  some  appropriate  situa- 
tion can  be  found  to  fit  many  psalms.  There  was  joy  in  the 
newly  built  temple,  but  there  followed  disappointment  and 
spiritual  deadness,  as  Malachi  shows.  There  were  some- 
times bright  hopes  of  prosperity  for  Israel,  and  then  came 
the  discouragement  of  the  disillusioning  years.  But  joy 
and  sorrow  come  in  all  ages,  and  one  cannot  put  in  this 
period  all  the  poems  that  express  it.    We  must  look  for  more 


i66  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

close  evidence,  while  recognizing  that  many  psalms  may 
belong  here  whose  origin  cannot  be  surely  traced.  Refer- 
ences to  the  temple,  unless  something  else  in  the  psalm 
forbids,  are  usually  to  be  assigned  to  this  period.  Here 
belong  the  liturgical  psalms,  somewhat  artificial  hymns 
written  for  the  temple  service,  many  of  which  are  found 
in  the  fifth  book  of  the  Psalter.  It  is  certain  that  at  least  a 
large  number  of  the  psalms  are  from  the  exilic  and  post- 
exilic  periods. 

The  greatest  problems  presented  by  the  book  of  Psalms 
are  three:  (i)  Are  there  Davidic  psalms?  (2)  If  not,  are 
there  preexilic  psalms?     (3)  Are  there  Maccabean  psalms? 

I.  The  superscriptions  assign  seventy-three  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty  psalms  to  David.  It  is  improbable  that 
half  the  psalm  literature  of  the  nation  came  from  one  man, 
and  he  so  early  in  the  nation's  history.  In  the  LXX  thirteen 
are  given  to  David  which  are  not  so  ascribed  in  Hebrew, 
and  four  are  taken  from  him.  The  "of  David"  in  the 
superscriptions  probably  means,  in  most  cases,  not  author- 
ship, but  the  book  from  which  the  later  editors  derived  the 
psalms.  Some  of  the  superscriptions,  however,  were  at  some 
time  in  the  history  of  the  book  taken  to  mean  authorship, 
for  they  go  on  to  assign  circumstances  in  David's  life  under 
which  the  psalm  is  said  to  have  been  written.  One  such 
psalm,  18,  is  also  found  in  2  Sam  22v  In  most  cases  it  is 
easy  to  see  why  some  editor  has  guessed  that  the  psalm  was 
by  David ;  he  has  found  some  expression  which  seemed  to 
him  to  fit  into  a  situation  in  David's  life.  Psa  54.  3, 
"Strangers  have  risen  up  against  me,"  suggested  the  Ziph- 
ites  betraying  David  to  Saul ;  the  appeal  to  God  in  the  midst 
of  trouble  in  Psa  57,  the  time  when  David  hid  from  Saul  in 
a  cave. 

There  are  four  tests  of  the  Davidic  origin  of  a  psalm: 
( I )  Language.  A  psalm  containing  words  found  elsewhere 
only  in  late  literature  cannot  be  assigned  to  David.  (2) 
Historical  allusions.     If  these  represent  a  time  later  than 


PSALMS  167 

David's,  the  psalm  cannot  be  his.  (3)  Thought.  If  the 
psalm  contains  ideas  which  belong  to  a  later  age,  or  are  at 
radical  variance  with  the  David  of  the  historical  books,  the 
psalm  cannot  be  his.  (4)  Theological  ideas.  These  ideas 
changed  in  Israel  as  elsewhere.  A  psalm  containing  ideas 
of  a  later  age  cannot  be  David's.  These  standards  are 
universally  accepted,  but  the  results  of  their  application 
are  not  always  the  same,  (a)  Some  think  that  they  are 
able  to  find  psalms  probably  Davidic.  (b)  More  concede 
that  there  may  be  Davidic  psalms,  but  hold  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  pick  them  out.  They  may  exist  in  fragments, 
embedded  in  later  editing,  like  24.  7-10,  which  may  be  con- 
nected with  the  bringing  of  the  ark  to  Jerusalem,  (c)  Some 
are  quite  confident  that  there  are  no  Davidic  psalms,  and 
even  that  the  historic  David  was  not  the  kind  of  a  man 
from  whom  we  may  expect  the  type  of  literature  we  find 
in  the  Psalms.  The  trend  of  modern  biblical  study  is  to 
reduce  the  emphasis  upon  Davidic  psalms,  and  to  insist  that 
the  value  of  a  psalm,  like  that  of  other  literature,  depends 
on  what  it  is,  not  upon  who  wrote  it. 

2.  Those  who  hold  that  there  are  no  Davidic  psalms  raise 
the  further  question  whether  any  of  the  psalms  were  written 
before  the  exile.  Some  claim  that  at  least  the  "royal  psalms," 
those  in  which  a  king  is  mentioned,  must  be  preexilic ;  as 
2,  18,  20,  21,  45,  61,  63,  y2.  Others  hold  that  the  king  is  an 
ideal  figure  of  postexilic  hope,  or  in  some  cases,  a  real  king 
of  the  late  Maccabean  kingdom.  There  is,  however,  a 
greater  tendency  to  ascribe  particular  psalms  to  the  pre- 
exilic period  than  there  is  to  assign  any  to  David.  It  is 
asked,  on  the  one  hand.  Is  it  probable  that  the  religion  of 
Jehovah,  with  its  rich  prophetic  literature,  had  no  songs  of 
praise  to  him  through  all  these  centuries?  It  is  asked,  on 
the  other  hand,  Are  there  any  psalms  which  require  the 
assumption  of  a  preexilic  origin? 

3.  There  is  more  unanimity  of  opinion  regarding  Mac- 
cabean psalms.     Nearly  all  hold  that  there  are  a  few ;  the 


i68  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

question  on  which  difference  arises  is,  How  many?  The 
Maccabean  period  was  a  time  that  tried  men's  souls,  when 
the  rehgion  of  Jehovah  came  near  being  drowned  in  the 
blood  of  its  devotees,  when  only  the  heroism  of  a  few  saved 
the  religion  from  final  extinction.  Is  it  possible  that  no 
hymn  of  prayer  or  praise  came  from  it,  to  be  sung  in  the 
rededicated  temple?  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  was  it  too 
late  for  such  songs  to  find  their  way  into  the  book  of 
Psalms?  A  few  songs,  expressing  the  idea  of  the  sufferings 
of  a  righteous  nation,  and  sometimes  containing  references 
to  the  defiled  temple,  fit  well  into  this  period.  Such  are 
Psa  44,  74,  79,  80,  83,  86. 

If  there  is  so  much  uncertainty  in  the  date  of  the  Psalms, 
why  give  any  attention  to  it?  Why  not  treat  them  simply 
as  timeless  poems,  and  ignore  the  circumstances  of  their 
origin?  Because,  with  all  its  uncertainty  in  particular  cases, 
nothing  vivifies  a  psalm  so  much  as  to  realize  that  it  had  an 
historical  origin,  that  it  was  the  expression  of  the  deep 
feeling  of  some  soul.  It  is  worth  while  to  become  accus- 
tomed to  look  for  the  writer  behind  the  words.  The  Psalms 
are  more  than  mere  literature ;  they  are  the  expression  of 
life.  To  search  for  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
were  written,  even  though  we  cannot  always  be  sure  that  we 
have  found  it,  is  at  least  to  make  an  effort  to  get  in  touch 
with  that  life,  and  catch  the  inspiration  of  its  human  fel- 
lowship. 

These  one  hundred  and  fifty  poems  present  a  wide  variety 
of  literary  qualities.  Some  of  them  are  among  the  choicest 
lyrics  in  the  world,  but  not  all  of  them  reach  so  high  a 
poetic  level.  Even  those  which  lack  beauty  as  poetry  often 
possess  other  qualities  which  give  them  value  as  religious 
literature.  Psa  119,  an  elaborate  alphabetic  psalm,  with  no 
poetic  fire,  expresses  the  devotion  of  its  author  to  the  law 
of  God;  136,  with  its  constant  refrain,  is  in  part  a  com- 
posite from  135,  and  impresses,  by  its  constant  reiteration, 
one  great  thought  about  God,   "His  mercy  endureth   for 


PSALMS  169 

ever."  The  temple  psalms,  rather  mechanical  compositions 
of  people  who  set  out  to  write  hymns,  are  yet  lofty  expres- 
sions of  praise  to  God  and  confidence  in  his  power  (for 
example,  148,  150). 

Certain  groups  of  the  Psalms  have  an  especial  literary 
interest.  One  is,  to  borrow  a  term  from  mystic  literature, 
the  songs  of  the  practice  of  the  presence  of  God.  They 
voice  the  trust  of  the  individual  in  the  power  of  Jehovah. 
It  may  be  that,  as  edited,  the  *T"  meant  the  congregation  of 
worshipers,  but  originally  it  must  have  expressed  the  reli- 
gious feeling  of  the  writer.  The  poems  strike  three  notes : 
humility,  confidence,  gladness.  Some  psalms  which  are  most 
familiar  belong  in  this  group.  They  are  such  psalms  as  23, 
51,  91,  6,  2y,  38,  40,  42,  46,  90.  A  second  group  might  be 
called  songs  of  the  majesty  of  God.  They  are  more  objec- 
tive than  the  first,  stately  poems,  worthy  in  style  to  express 
praise  of  the  ruler  of  the  universe.  Among  these  are  24, 
48,  50,  96-100.  A  third  group  is  the  nature  songs;  not 
numerous,  but  among  the  best  psalms.  The  writers  come 
to  nature  bringing  the  conception  of  God  with  them,  and  so 
the  poems  become  religious.  They  are  8,  19.  1-6,  29,  65,  93, 
104.  A  group  interesting  for  quite  a  different  reason  is 
that  of  the  imprecatory  psalms.  They  are  poems  which 
pronounce  curses  upon  enemies,  like  137,  68  (see  vv.  21  to 
23),  69  (see  vv.  22-28),  109.  Fancy  singing  these  savage 
words  in  praise  of  God !  We  must  recognize  the  ethical 
limitations  of  the  writers.  Such  sentiments  are  perfectly 
natural,  but  that  does  not  make  them  right.  These  poems 
do  not  present  models  of  conduct  or  of  spirit.  We  shall  do 
better  to  recognize  frankly  the  moral  limitations  of  these 
poets,  and  then  acknowledge  that  no  Christian  nation  is  free 
from  the  same  blots.  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  transform 
national  hatreds  into  brotherly  love. 

On  the  whole,  after  making  all  proper  literary  and  ethical 
deductions,  the  Psalter  is  the  best  collection  of  religious 
lyrics  which  the  world  possesses.    The  history  of  its  growth 


I70 


THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 


helps  in  part  to  explain  this.  From  the  beginning  of  the 
exile  to  the  Maccabean  period  is  about  four  hundred  years. 
Lay  out  this  time  over  the  history  of  English  literature, 
and  how  much  would  it  cover?  If  we  assume  that  there 
are  Davidic  psalms,  we  must  add  at  least  four  hundred  years 
more  to  the  history  of  the  book.  Even  in  the  shorter  period 
the  nation  went  through  the  widest  vicissitudes  of  fortune. 
All  these  varying  experiences  were  reflected  in  its  religious 
poetry,  the  only  poetry  of  which  the  nation  produced  any 
great  body.  At  the  end  of  the  period  we  have  a  selection 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  short  poems.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  they  represent  a  wide  range  of  religious  experience, 
and  can  be  used  by  people  of  all  nations  and  cultures  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  The  marvel  is  that  they  contain  so  few 
things  which  the  world  has  outgrown.  In  these  psalms  the 
religious  experience  of  the  Hebrew  race  finds  its  most 
exalted  poetic  expression.  In  them  are  found  conceptions 
of  the  majesty  of  God,  of  his  care  for  men,  of  perfect  trust 
in  his  wisdom  and  power,  which  make  the  Psalter  more 
influential  than  any  other  book  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
developing  and  expressing  a  rich  religious  experience. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Name   the   parallelism    in   twenty    successive    verses,    from    any 

portion  of  the  Psalms.  Note  any  parallelism  between  verses 
and  stanzas,  as  well  as  between  lines.  How  does  the  study  of 
parallelism  assist  the  interpretation  of  the  writer's  thought 
in  this  passage? 

2.  Read    for    elaborate    parallelism,    acrostic,    stanza    structure    or 

refrain  Psa  i,  24.  7-10,  42  and  43,  46,  99,  107,  118,  136. 

3.  Compare   repeated  psalms  and   note   any  changes :    14  and   53 ; 

40.  13-17  and  70;  57.  7-1 1,  60.  5-12  and  108;  135.  10-12  and 
136.  17-22. 

4.  Read  for  evidences  of  date,  137,  42,  43,  74,  79,  89,  102,  107,  115, 

120,   126,   147. 

5.  Read  any  group  of  ten   successive  psalms,   and   gather  up  the 

main  religious  and  national  ideas  presented. 

6.  In  the  nature  psalms,  8,   19.    1-6,  29,  65,  93,   104,  what  aspects 


PSALMS  171 

of  nature  are  noted?  How  does  the  poet  make  his  con- 
templation of  nature  religious? 

Some  of  the  best  known  psalms  are  22,,  51,  19,  90,  91,  i.  What 
qualities  have   made   them   familiar? 

Which  psalm  of  those  you  have  read  is  the  best  literature,  and 
why? 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
PROVERBS 

The  book  of  Proverbs  is  the  simplest  expression  of  the 
Hebrew  wisdom.  It  is  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  eight 
pamphlets  and  a  preface,  presenting  different  literary  forms 
and  coming  from  different  authors  in  different  times.  The 
unity  lies  in  the  purpose  and  in  the  general  type  of  literature. 
The  purpose  is  expressed  in  the  preface  (i.  i-6)  as  being 
instruction  in  morals  and  good  living.  The  writer  of  the 
preface  sees  in  this  collection  a  handbook  of  practical  life. 
The  Orient  has  always  been  fond  of  such  books.  The  best- 
known  treatises  in  the  Chinese  Classics,  the  Great  Learning, 
and  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  are  of  this  sort.  India 
possesses  two  popular  handbooks  of  instruction,  in  which 
proverbs  are  skillfully  woven  into  fables,  the  Panchatantra, 
and  the  Hitopadesa.  None  of  them  equal  Proverbs  in  lofti- 
ness of  view  and  pungency  of  expression.  The  book  gives 
us  wit,  in  the  sense  of  concentrated  expressions  of  the 
keenest  observation  of  life.  With  the  wit  is  often  coupled 
humor.  Sometimes  it  lies  in  the  situation,  like  the  poem 
about  the  drunken  man,  who  says,  "When  I  get  over  this, 
I'll  have  some  more"  (23.  29-35)  !  ^^id  the  lazy  man,  too 
tired  to  lift  food  to  his  mouth  (26.  15).  Sometimes  there 
is  the  unexpected  turn  showing  a  hidden  congruity  in  incon- 
gruous things,  which  makes  so  much  of  American  humor, 
like,  "a.  whip  for  the  horse,  a  bridle  for  the  ass,  and  a  rod 
for  the  back  of  fools"  (26.  3)  ;  "Confidence  in  an  unfaithful 
man  in  time  of  trouble  is  like  a  broken  tooth  and  a  foot  out 
of  joint"  (25.  19). 

Nations  differ  as  to  the  combinations  which  seem  humor- 

172 


PROVERBS  173 

ous,  and  doubtless  much  humor  is  hidden  in  what  seem  to  us 
merely  loose  collocations  of  ideas.  Sometimes  there  is  a 
keen  insight  into  the  facts  of  life,  wittily  expressed :  "  'It's 
nothing.  It's  nothing,'  the  buyer  says ;  when  he  has  gone 
away,  then  he  brags"  (20.  14).  "Let  thy  foot  be  seldom 
in  thy  neighbor's  house,  lest  he  get  tired  of  thee  and  hate 
thee"  (25.  17).  The  reader  will  find  much  wit  and  humor, 
especially  in  the  collections  called  "Proverbs  of  Solomon." 
With  it,  however,  goes  a  strong  ethical  sense,  emphasis  on 
industry  and  honesty,  and  the  fundamental  profitableness 
of  right  living.  Life  should  be  balanced,  sane,  judicious, 
as  well  as  moral ;  and  back  of  all  should  stand  the  sense 
of  responsibiUty  to  God,  for  "the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom."  It  is  a  simple  philosophy  of  life,  but 
wholesome  for  any  age  and  any  race. 

The  literary  structure  is  also  simple.  After  the  brief  edi- 
torial preface  (i.  1-6),  there  are  eight  divisions,  mostly 
marked  by  headings : 


Chs.   I  to  9.     The  Praise  of  Wisdom. 

Ch.  10.  I  to  22.  16.     The  Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Chs.  22.  17  to  24.  22.     The  Words  of  the  Wise. 

Ch.  24.  23-34,     Further  Words  of  the  Wise. 

Chs.  25  to  29.    A  Second  Collection  of  Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Ch.  30.     The  Words  of  Agur. 

Ch.  31.  i-g.    The  Words  of  King  Lemuel. 

Ch.  31.  10-31.     The  Praise  of  a  Good  Woman. 


I.  The  Praise  of  Wisdom  is  made  up,  not  of  proverbs, 
but  of  a  series  of  short  poems,  so  much  alike  that  it  is  difificult 
to  divide  between  them.  Some  scholars  enumerate  seven  or 
eight,  some  fourteen  or  sixteen.  Whether  they  come  from 
the  same  author  is  immaterial ;  they  represent  the  same 
phase  of  thought.  Some  of  the  best  poems  are  the  Introduc- 
tion, I.  7-19;  the  Call  of  Wisdom,  i.  20-^^;  the  Com- 
mendation of  Wisdom,  2  and  3 ;  the  Condemnation  of  Lazi- 
ness, 6.  6-1 1  ;  the  Invitation  of  Wisdom,  8;  the  Contrast 
of  Personified  Wisdom  and  Folly,  9. 


174 


THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 


These  should  be  read,  as  presenting  its  substance  of 
thought,  even  if  the  whole  section  is  not  read.  An  exact  date 
is  impossible  to  fix.  It  must  be  late  in  the  development 
of  this  kind  of  literature,  for  wisdom  is  here  self-conscious, 
describes  itself,  and  speculates  about  itself.  This  phase 
reaches  a  climax  in  ch.  8,  where  wisdom  is  not  only  an 
attribute  of  man,  but  of  God  also.  Notice  the  relation  of  the 
divine  side  of  wisdom  to  the  creation  (8.  22-31).  No  other 
passage  in  Proverbs  gives  so  lofty  a  conception  of  wisdom  ; 
elsewhere  it  is  an  attribute  of  man,  and  its  foundation  is 
the  fear  of  Jehovah. 

2.  The  Proverbs  of  Solomon  is  the  typical  collection  of 
proverbs.  The  section  presents  a  surprising  uniformity. 
Each  proverb  is  detached,  and  consists  of  two  lines  of  three 
accent  beats  each.  A  seeming  exception,  19.  7,  is  due  to  a 
line  of  one  proverb  having  dropped  out  of  the  text,  as  the 
LXX  shows.  There  is  a  curious  arrangement  of  parallelism. 
To  ch.  15  the  parallelism  is  predominantly  antithetic;  from 
ch.  16  on,  predominantly  synthetic.  These  facts  indicate 
editorial  work.  The  arrangement  of  subject,  however,  is 
nearly  haphazard.  Occasionally  groups  of  proverbs  begin 
with  the  same  letter  of  the  alphabet,  or  gather  about  a 
subject,  as  Jehovah  (16.  1-9),  the  king  (16.  12-15). 

One  proverb  is  repeated  exactly  (14.  12  =  16.  25)  ;  eight 
are  repeated  with  slight  change  (10.  i  =  15.20;  10.2=11.4; 
13.  14  =  14.  27  ;  14.  20  =  19.  4 ;  16.  2  =  21.  2 ;  19.  5  =  19.  9 ; 
20.  10  =  20.  23 ;  21.  9  =  21.  19)  ;  ten  others  are  repeated  in 
one  line,  as  10.  15  =  18.  1 1  ;  15.  33  =  18.  12 ;  1 1.  13  =  20.  19. 
This  seems  to  show  that  the  proverbs  had  been  in  circulation 
and  taken  variant  forms  before  coming  into  this  collection. 
There  is  little  that  can  fix  the  date  of  the  collection.  There 
are  no  historical  references.  It  is  common  to  regard  this 
section  as  the  earliest  of  the  book,  but  even  that  would  be 
difficult  to  prove.  The  life  presented,  the  ethical  tone,  the 
likeness  of  style  and  words  to  Ecclesiasticus,  indicate  a 
period  long  after  the  close  of  the   exile.     The   name  of 


PROVERBS  175 

Solomon  is  to  be  explained  as  merely  the  traditional  ascrip- 
tion of  wisdom  to  Solomon.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  editor  who 
affixed  this  title  supposed  Solomon  to  be  the  author  any  more 
than  did  the  originator  of  the  title,  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
given  to  a  book  of  distinctly  Greco-Jewish  thought,  now  in 
the  Apocrypha. 

3.  The  Words  of  the  Wise,  22.  17  to  24.  22,  is  an 
appendix  to  the  former  section,  different  in  its  style.  It  is 
mostly  maxims  rather  than  proverbs,  usually  in  the  second 
person.  Instead  of  uniform  length,  the  maxims  are  some- 
times of  four,  six,  or  eight  lines.  A  little  poem  on  the 
drunken  man  occurs  (23.  29-35),  containing  a  humorous 
description  of  the  man  who  says,  "O  my !"  and  "O  dear !", 
who  reels  along  as  though  on  the  top  of  a  mast,  and  promises 
himself  that  when  this  debauch  is  over  he  will  have  another. 

4.  Chapter  24.  23-34  is  another  little  appendix,  contain- 
ing another  poem  of  humorous  satire,  holding  the  lazy  man 
up  to  ridicule  (compare  6.  6-1 1). 

5.  The  second  collection  of  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon 
(chs.  25  to  29)  is  in  tone  and  spirit  like  the  first  collection, 
but  is  not  so  uniform.  The  first  part  of  this  division,  25  to 
2^,  contains  many  maxims,  like  division  3 ;  the  second,  28 
and  29,  has  more  proverbs,  like  division  2.  Here  also  is 
a  little  poem,  the  Praise  of  Industry  {^2"].  23-27).  This 
division  contains  much  simile  and  double  comparison.  See 
examples  in  ch.  25.  Its  maxims  often  run  to  six  or  eight 
lines.  Many  of  them  contain  a  mordant  wit,  as  they  satirize 
vices  (26.  12,  13-16),  or  follies  (26.  4,  5,  17,  21,  22),  but 
a  constructive  basis  for  life  is  laid  in  frequent  praise  of 
righteousness.  The  whole  tone  of  the  collection  is  that  of 
clear-headed,  cool-minded,  practical  criticism  of  life,  which 
because  it  is  cool  and  clear,  is  not  soured  and  pessimistic, 
but  holds  fast  to  the  justice  of  God  and  the  value  of  a  good 
life.  The  truly  keen  critic  of  life  is  never  a  cynic.  Cynicism 
is  shallow  and  one-sided. 

The   heading   of   this    division    also   is   to   be    attributed 


176  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

to  the  tradition  of  Solomon,  the  Wise.  The  contents  present 
no  discoverable  reflection  of  the  time  of  either  Solomon  or 
Hezekiah.  It  belongs  with  the  rest  of  the  Wisdom  literature 
in  the  postexilic  time. 

6.  The  Words  of  Agur  (30)  present  a  puzzle  in  the  title. 
The  word  translated  "oracle"  may  be  "of  Massa."  A  Massa 
existed  in  Northern  Arabia,  and  it  is  sometimes  suggested 
that  this  chapter  is  extra-Jewish  in  origin.  The  passage 
may  represent  a  corrupt  text.  Nothing  is  known  of  Agur 
or  Jakeh.  They  may  be  names  connected  with  traditional 
wisdom.  Verses  1-6  are  also  puzzling.  They  seem  to 
be  the  utterance  of  an  agnostic,  with  a  touch  of  sarcasm 
for  those  who  pretend  to  know  so  much  about  God,  ending 
with  an  exhortation  to  trust  him  after  all.  The  numerical 
proverbs  which  follow  are  often  fragmentary  and  broken. 
The  form  is  strange  in  Hebrew  literature,  and  the  copyists 
have  not  always  been  careful  to  reproduce  the  full  original 
proverb.  In  the  Indian  Hitopadesa  proverbs  of  enumeration 
are  frequent,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  any  historical 
connection  between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Indian  books. 

7.  The  Words  of  King  Lemuel  (30.  1-9)  present  another 
puzzle.  Hebrew  history  knows  no  King  Lemuel,  and  here, 
as  in  section  6,  "oracle"  may  be  "Alassa."  The  title  may 
be  ideal.  The  content  is  advice  to  rulers  and  judges,  warn- 
ing against  such  indulgence  in  appetite  as  will  endanger 
the  justice  of  their  judgments. 

8.  The  Praise  of  a  Good  Woman  (31.  10-31)  is  an 
acrostic  poem,  each  verse  beginning  with  a  successive  letter 
of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  Oriental  literature  contains  many 
poems  in  praise  of  woman's  beauty,  but  few  which  can  com- 
pare with  this  as  praise  of  her  character.  The  picture  of  her 
daily  life  is  Oriental,  but  the  fundamental  qualities  which 
win  love  and  reverence  for  her  are  neither  Oriental  nor 
Occidental,  but  finely  and  broadly  human. 

The  history  of  the  growth  of  the  book  of  Proverbs  can 
be  traced  in  its  structure.     Its  nucleus  is  evidentlv  section  2. 


PROVERBS  177 

Sections  3  and  4  are  appendices,  which  must  have  been 
added  before  5  was  joined.  Sections  6,  7  and  8  are  appen- 
dices, which  may  have  been  added  either  before  or  after  the 
compilation  of  the  rest  was  completed.  Section  i  was  pre- 
fixed by  an  editor  who  regarded  the  book  as  presenting  the 
call  of  Wisdom,  which  he  personifies  so  beautifully.  The 
little  preface,  i.  1-6,  was  prefixed  to  the  completed  book 
(unless  some  of  the  last  appendices  were  added  later)  by 
some  one  who  saw  its  value  for  instruction  in  a  well- 
balanced  life,  and  who  wished  to  commend  it  as  a  textbook 
for  practical  ethics.  He  perceived  its  real  value.  The  book 
is  unsurpassed  for  keenness,  for  wit,  for  insight,  for  the 
charm  of  concentrated  expression,  but  its  permanent  value 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  presents  the  wise  life  as  the  life 
grounded  in  the  fear  of  God.  "The  beginning  of  wisdom 
is  the  fear  of  Jehovah." 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What   does   the   writer   of    the   preface,    i.    1-6,    regard   as   the 

object  of  the  book? 

2.  Read  i.  7-19,  i.  20-33,  chs.  2  and  3,  6.  6-11.     What  point  does 

the  writer  make  in  each  section?  Are  these  sections  in  the 
literary  form  of  proverbs? 

3.  Define  wisdom,  as  described  in  ch.  8. 

4.  Read  any  two  chapters  of  Division  2  (the  Proverbs  of  Solomon), 

(i)  making  a  list  of  the  subjects  treated,  (2)  noting  the 
form  and  parallelism  of  the  proverbs,  (3)  the  attitude  toward 
industry,   (4)   the  reasons  for  moral  conduct. 

5.  Read  Division  3   (The  Words  of  the  Wise),  and  compare  the 

literary  form  as  to  number  of  lines  and  kind  of  parallelism, 
with   Division  2.     What  subjects   were   considered? 

6.  Read  two  chapters  of  Division  5,  and  compare  the  literary  form 

and  subject  matter  with  Division  2. 

7.  Read  Divisions  6,  7,  and  8.     What  is  peculiar  to  each?     Is  the 

picture  of  the  ideal  woman  in  Division  8  universal,  or  only 
Oriental  ? 

8.  Collect  what  you  regard  the  best  proverbs  in  the  portions  read. 

In  what  does  their  excellence  consist? 

9.  Do  you  find  any  examples  of  humor  in  Proverbs? 

ID.  Why  should  Proverbs  be  accorded  a  place  in  religious  literature? 


178  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

What  is  the  real  distinction  between  a  religious  and  a  secular 
treatment  of  life? 

11.  "Proverbs  presents  only  utilitarian  morals."      Is  this  correct? 

If  so,  does   that  diminish  its  value  for  morals? 

12.  Describe  the  typical  Wise  Man  of  Proverbs  and  the  Ideal  for 

Life  in  Proverbs. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 
JOB 

The  book  of  Job  is  the  most  artistic  literary  production 
in  the  Bible,  It  ranks  among  the  great  poems  of  the  world ; 
in  fact,  many  regard  it  as  the  greatest  of  the  world's  poems. 

The  book  is  very  systematic  in  arrangement.  It  is  divided 
as  follows: 

1.  A  prose  prologue    (chs.   i   and  2). 

2.  An  introductory  speech  by  Job  (ch.  3). 

3.  Three  cycles  of  speeches,  each  consisting  of  a  speech  by  each 
of  Job's  three  friends  and  answering  speeches  by  Job  (chs.  4  to  31). 

4.  A  set  of  speeches  by  a  new  character,  Elihu  (chs.  2^  to  37). 

5.  Two  speeches  by  Jehovah   (chs.  38  to  41). 

6.  An  answer  by  Job,  and  a  prose  epilogue  (ch.  41). 

The  prologue  sets  before  the  reader,  in  rapid,  artistic 
strokes,  the  background  of  the  poem.  Read  it,  noting  its 
simplicity  and  directness ;  its  dramatic  quality,  the  story 
proceeding  largely  by  conversation,  with  little  descriptive 
detail  and  no  pictures ;  the  systematic  arrangement,  two 
scenes  in  heaven  followed  by  two  on  earth ;  the  climaxes, 
Satan's  sneer  passing  deeper  the  second  time.  Job's  calami- 
ties falling  in  increasing  severity. 

The  prologue  opens  with  the  emphasis  on  two  character- 
istics of  Job;  his  piety  and  his  prosperity  (i.  1-5),  They 
are  the  two  elements  which  furnish  the  background  for  the 
plot  of  the  poem.  Then  a  new  scene  is  introduced,  a  council 
in  heaven.  The  writer  is  audacious,  and  does  not  hesitate 
to  introduce  the  Almighty  in  colloquy  with  his  courtiers. 
One  of  the  members  of  his  court  is  the  Satan,  whose  busi- 
ness is  to  test  pretended  goodness.     He  sneers  at  Job's 

179 


i8o  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

piety.  "Job  thinks  he  is  well  paid  for  it.  Take  away  his 
prosperity  and  then  see  what  happens."  "Test  him,"  said 
God,  and  the  scene  closes  (i.  6-12). 

Notice  the  dignity  of  this  scene.  There  is  no  attempt  to 
describe  God,  to  overwhelm  the  reader  by  the  glories  of  his 
court,  or  to  draw  any  contrast  between  God  and  Satan. 
Only  the  one  point  of  Job's  coming  test  is  made. 

The  scene  shifts  to  earth.  Here  again  events  move 
swiftly.  One  messenger  after  another  appears  with  a  tale 
of  calamity,  each  worse  than  the  last,  till  Job  is  stripped 
of  wealth  and  children.  This  is  the  test ;  and  from  it  Job's 
piety  rises  triumphant.     He  has  stood  the  test. 

Again  the  scene  is  changed.  We  are  in  the  council  of 
God,  and  once  more  Satan  appears.  His  attention  is  called 
to  Job's  endurance  of  the  test.  His  reply  is  that  the  probe 
has  not  struck  deep  enough ;  and  he  is  given  power  to 
afflict  Job  with  bodily  ailment,  sparing  his  life  only. 

Again  for  the  last  time  the  scene  changes  to  earth.  A 
form  of  leprosy  has  fastened  upon  Job.  Driven  out  from 
among  men,  he  sits  on  the  refuse  heap  outside  the  town  to 
wait  for  death.  His  wife  now  appears  as  a  further  element 
in  the  testing.  This  is  the  second  test ;  and  the  result  is 
that  "in  all  this  Job  sinned  not  with  his  lips." 

Three  friends  come  to  condole  with  him,  but,  astonished 
at  his  affliction,  they  are  represented  as  sitting  silent  for 
seven  days  and  nights.  The  most  merciful  thing  they  can 
do  is  to  remain  silent,  and  not  say  what  they  think  about 
the  cause  of  his  afflictions. 

The  object  of  this  prologue  is  to  tell  the  reader,  what  Job 
does  not  know,  the  reason  for  his  sufferings.  Later  the 
poet  will  make  Job  and  his  friends  discuss  this  problem  of 
suffering;  and  the  reader  may  follow  that  discussion  with 
the  calm  of  a  spectator,  for  he  already  has  the  key  to  this 
particular  instance  of  suffering. 

The  Satan  of  this  prologue  is  not  the  Satan  of  the  New 
Testament.     Lie  is  one  of  God's  servants,  his  "prosecuting 


JOB  i8i 

attorney,"  who  tests  pretended  piety ;  but  he  is  represented 
as  cynical,  "the  Spirit  that  denies,"  Uke  the  Mephistopheles 
of  Goethe's  Faust,  the  prologue  of  which  is  founded  upon 
the  prologue  of  Job. 

A  prelude  to  the  dialogue  is  the  outburst  of  Job  (ch.  3). 
Read  it,  and  note  its  thoughts:  "Why  was  I  born?  Why 
did  I  not  die  at  birth?  Why  must  I  live  on  in  suffering?" 
This  outburst  grows  out  of  the  attitude  of  his  friends.  They 
sit  in  silence  because  they  do  not  wish  to  say  that  his  suffer- 
ings show  him  to  be  a  great  sinner.  But  Job  reads  their 
thoughts,  and  their  very  silence  speaks  their  condemnation. 
The  tone  of  Job's  speech  indicates  impatience  with  God, 
It  savors  of  heterodoxy,  and  must  be  answered. 

The  round  of  debate  is  opened  by  Eliphaz,  represented 
as  the  oldest  and  most  kindly  of  the  three.  Read  the  speech 
(chs.  4  and  5),  noting  the  gentle,  almost  apologetic  way  in 
which  it  begins,  and  the  friendly  suggestion  at  the  close. 
Each  of  these  friends  represents  a  type.  Eliphaz  is  the 
prophet,  who  brings  a  message  which  has  come  to  him 
through  a  dream  (4.  I2ff.). 

This  is  a  skillfully  wrought  speech.  Under  its  velvet 
glove  of  friendliness  is  the  iron  hand  of  condemnation. 
Eliphaz  confuses  complaint  of  suffering  with  rebellion 
against  God ;  he  implies  that  Job  is  suffering  because  he 
has  sinned ;  but  the  sin  was  not  great,  and  the  suffering  may 
soon  end  in  joy.  Is  Eliphaz  lying  for  politeness'  sake? 
Does  he  really  think  Job  a  great  sinner? 

The  implied  condemnation  wakens  in  Job  first  resentment 
and  then  a  sense  of  bitter  loneliness.  He  has  not  complained 
without  cause  (6.  1-13).  He  had  a  right  to  expect  more 
vmderstanding  sympathy  from  his  friends  (6.  14-30).  Then 
his  sufferings  drive  him  to  think  of  helpless  suffering  as  the 
common  lot  of  men  (7.  i-io),  and  he  turns  to  God  and 
pleads  piteously  for  release.  Why  does  God  torture  helpless 
man?    (7.  11-21.) 

Bildad  replies.     He  is  shocked  that  Job  should  suggest 


i82  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

the  possibility  of  God's  injustice.  His  speech  is  short,  less 
friendly  than  that  of  Eliphaz,  and  implies  plainly  that  Job  is 
being  punished  for  his  sins.  Bildad  is  the  traditionalist. 
To  him  all  wisdom  has  come  from  the  fathers.  They  have 
taught  that  God  is  always  just,  and  that  nothing  happens 
without  a  cause  (ch.  8). 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  answer  of  Job  (chs.  9  and 
10)  begins  with  a  sneer :  *T  know  all  these  fine  words  as  well 
as  you."  But  God's  justice  implies  his  power.  He  can  do 
what  he  pleases,  and  helpless  man  has  no  redress  (ch.  9). 
"O  God,  show  me  why  I  suflFer.  Is  it  Godlike  to  create 
me  simply  for  torment?  (10.  1-19.)  At  least  give  me  a 
little  respite  from  suffering,  and  let  me  die  in  peace"  (10. 
20-22). 

Zophar  (ch.  11)  is  the  dogmatist,  hard  and  unsympathetic. 
To  him  Job's  piteous  complaints  are  only  "3.  multitude  of 
words."  Would  that  God  would  show  him  his  guilt !  Then 
he  would  see  that  he  was  suffering  less  than  he  deserved. 
But  even  Zophar  is  not  unfriendly.  If  Job  will  turn  to  God, 
he  will  even  yet  be  forgiven. 

Job  answers  (ch.  12)  with  bitter  sarcasm.  They  have  lied 
about  God,  in  a  desire  to  defend  him.  They  have  wished 
God  would  show  him  his  sins.  So  does  he;  and  ch.  13 
closes  with  a  piteous  appeal  to  God.  But  God  does  not 
answer,  and  ch.  14  sinks  to  a  sad  complaint  of  the  wretched- 
ness of  man,  helpless  and  hopeless  in  the  grip  of  relentless 
power. 

Here  the  first  cycle  closes.  The  debate  has  been  about 
God.  The  friends  have  asserted  his  justice.  Job  has  denied 
that  any  justice  is  shown;  there  is  only  power.  That  line 
of  discussion  has  been  fruitless.  Notice  the  climax  in  the 
increasing  harshness  of  the  friends  and  the  bitterness  of 
Job ;  the  keen  characterization  of  the  friends,  with  the  dog- 
matist the  least  sympathetic.  This  is  true  to  nature.  It  is 
true  to  nature  also  that  the  deeper  experiences  of  life  shake 
men  out  of  old  orthodoxies,  and  that  those  who  only  sit 


JOB  183 

at  ease  and  look  on  are  shocked  at  the  effort  to  find  theolo- 
gies which  will  suit  new  conditions. 

The  friends  are  obliged  to  conclude  that  Job  is  a  great 
sinner.  But  they  are  still  his  friends,  and  will  not  abandon 
their  efforts  to  convert  him.  It  is  evident  that  nothing  they 
can  say  about  God  will  do  it.  If  they  can  compel  him  to 
realize  the  peril  in  which  the  wicked  man  stands,  perhaps 
they  can  move  him  to  penitence.  In  the  second  round  of 
debate  they  hold  up  a  mirror  in  which  they  expect  Job  to 
see  himself.  He  seems  not  at  first  to  realize  how  personal 
they  mean  to  be,  and  does  not  try  in  his  early  speeches  to 
answer  their  arguments. 

As  before,  Eliphaz  begins  (ch.  15).  His  self  love  has 
been  hurt.  Job  has  dared  to  treat  their  wisdom  with  con- 
tempt. But  what  special  wisdom  has  Job  ?  Everyone  knows 
that  the  wicked  are  punished.  Their  own  bad  conscience 
makes  them  cowards  (15.  20-24),  and  disaster  comes  upon 
them,  as  it  had  come  upon  Job, 

Job's  answer  (chs.  16,  17)  begins  with  an  appeal  for  sym- 
pathy. God  and  man  have  both  forsaken  him.  His  speeches 
from  now  on  show  moods,  now  of  despair,  now  of  a  trust 
in  God  that  refuses  to  lose  confidence  in  ultimate  divine 
justice.  Chapters  16.  18  to  17.  9  express  a  mood  of  hope, 
17.  10-16,  of  despair. 

Bildad  (ch.  18)  is  more  harsh  than  in  his  first  speech. 
Job  has  despised  his  friends;  but  let  him  know  that  the 
order  of  nature  shows  that  the  wicked  live  and  die  in  misery. 
His  speech  closes  with  a  picture  which  reflects  Job's  disas- 
ters, and  he  says,  "Such  are  the  dwellings  of  the  un- 
righteous." 

Job  (ch.  19)  replies  with  hot  indignation,  then  he  turns 
to  his  sad  condition.  It  has  come  from  God,  There  is  no 
help.  Would  that  his  protestation  of  innocence  could  be 
made  permanent!  He  will  die  unvindicated,  and  yet  he 
cannot  but  believe  that  his  truth  will  at  last  appear,  even 
though  over  his  grave.    Job  is  not  thinking  of  a  life  after 


1 84  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

death  in  19.  23-27.  The  tragedy  of  the  whole  problem  is 
that  it  must  be  solved  in  this  life  or  not  at  all.  The  text 
of  this  passage  is  obscure,  and  perhaps  was  retouched  after 
a  faith  in  future  life  arose  among  Israel.  It  is  a  poetic 
expression  of  an  abiding  confidence  that  God  will,  after  all, 
deal  justly  with  man,  and  confirm  Job's  claim  of  innocence. 

Zophar  affirms  (ch.  20)  that  any  prosperity  the  wicked 
may  have  is  short.  Job  has  talked  as  though  he  did  not 
know  what  everybody  can  see — that  the  triumph  of  the 
wicked  is  short.  He,  Hke  Bildad,  tries  to  draw  a  picture  of 
the  wicked  man,  and  it  is  the  picture  of  Job.  The  speech  is 
blunt  and  harsh,  as  we  might  expect  from  Zophar. 

It  is  part  of  the  skill  of  the  author  that  he  keeps  Job's 
direct  answer  till  he  has  drawn  the  fire  of  his  friends.  Now 
Zophar's  harshness  compels  Job's  answer.  He  flatly  denies 
Zophar's  contention  (ch.  21).  The  wicked  live  and  die  in 
peace.  No  such  disasters  as  the  friends  have  pictured  over- 
take them.  They  have  no  more  suffering  than  the  righteous. 
He  ends  his  speech  with  the  epithet  "Hes." 

So  the  second  cycle  closes.  The  friends  have  tried  to 
show  that  the  wicked  always  suffer.  Job  has  called  them 
liars;  that  closes  this  phase  of  the  argument.  What  can  be 
done  further?  His  friends  still  want  to  win  him  to  a  better 
mind.  The  side  of  God  and  of  man  have  both  been  pre- 
sented. No  further  abstract  argument  is  left.  Possibly 
if  they  charge  him  directly  with  sin,  they  may  yet  compel 
him  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  God. 

As  before,  Eliphaz  begins  (ch.  22).  He  charges  Job  with 
the  sins  of  oppression  which  are  especially  easy  for  the  rich 
and  powerful  in  the  East.  But,  true  to  his  friendly  nature, 
he  tries  to  find  an  excuse.  Possibly  Job  forgot  that  God 
was  watching  over  the  world.  But  even  yet  there  is  hope, 
if  Job  will  only  confess  and  repent. 

Job  does  not  answer  Eliphaz,  but  continues  the  statement 
to  himself  of  the  puzzle  of  the  universe  (chs.  2T,  and  24). 
His  mood  of  confidence  has  now  passed,  and  he  sees  no 


JOB  185 

hope.  Would  that  he  could  find  God,  but  he  cannot.  He 
has  been  righteous,  and  yet  he  must  suffer;  there  are  those 
who  are  wicked  and  who  prosper.  How  can  one  talk  of 
divine  justice  with  the  world  all  awry? 

Bildad  (ch.  25)  is  struck  with  the  continued  arrogance 
of  Job.  How  can  any  man  claim  to  be  righteous  before 
God?  Bildad's  speech  is  surprisingly  short,  and  repeats,  in 
slightly  poorer  form,  what  Eliphaz  had  said  before  (com- 
pare 25.  4-6  with  4.  17-19).  Does  it  show  that  the  stream 
of  argument  is  running  dry? 

With  ch.  25  we  approach  a  tangled  problem.  It  meets 
us  fully  in  chs.  26  and  2'],  both  assigned  to  Job.  The 
problem  is,  to  whom  were  these  passages  originally  assigned  ? 
Chapters  26.  2-4  and  2^].  2-6  are  plainly  Job's.  They 
represent  his  style  and  ideas.  It  is  more  difficult  to  find  a 
place  in  his  thoughts  for  the  magnificent  description  of  the 
power  of  God  in  26.  5-14.  Is  the  thought,  "You  offer  me 
nothing  new ;  I  too  know  the  power  of  God"  ?  It  is  assigned 
by  some  to  Bildad,  but  did  the  literary  artist  who  wrote 
this  book  put  one  of  its  most  splendid  passages  in  the  mouth 
of  Bildad,  the  man  of  traditional  commonplaces?  It  has 
been  suggested,  with  still  less  likelihood,  that  the  speech  is 
Zophar's.     Every  hypothesis  presents  difficulties. 

Chapter  27.  7-23  presents  still  more  difficulties.  Its  theme 
is  the  certain  destruction  of  the  wicked;  but  Job,  in  ch.  21 
and  elsewhere,  has  maintained  exactly  the  opposite.  It  has 
certain  passages  almost  identical  with  some  in  Zophar's 
second  speech  (ch.  20).  Zophar  docs  not  appear  in  this 
cycle  of  debate.  Can  this  passage  be  his  third  speech?  It 
is  like  his  thought;  but  if  so,  part  of  the  speech  before 
2^.  7  must  have  been  lost,  for  every  other  speech  of  the 
friends  has  a  personal  introduction  with  biting  condemnation 
of  Job.  In  that  case  probably  much  of  the  preceding  speech 
of  Job  has  also  been  lost ;  but  to  assign  this  speech  to 
Zophar  takes  away  a  suggestion  of  a  dramatic  element  in  the 
book,  which  would  make  the  position  of  the  friends  so  weak 


i86  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

that  the  third  speaker  has  nothing  to  say.  In  any  case,  it 
does  not  seem  possible  that  the  writer  could  have  intended 
2^.  y-2^  for  any  part  of  Job's  speech. 

Chapter  28  is  another  difficult  passage.  It  is  a  beautiful 
poem,  exalting  real  wisdom  as  the  quality  of  God  only.  Man 
can  neither  find  it  nor  buy  it ;  to  man  has  been  given,  as 
human  wisdom,  the  fear  of  God.  Notice  ( i )  the  elaborate- 
ness of  the  poetry;  (2)  the  reflective  state  of  mind  repre- 
sented; (3)  the  lack  of  connection  with  its  context.  It  is 
a  beautiful  poem,  but  it  stands  in  no  relation  to  this  section 
of  Job. 

Chapters  29  to  31  are  plainly  Job's.  Once  more  we  are 
standing  in  the  shadow  of  his  problem  of  suffering.  He 
looks  back  over  the  days  that  are  past  and  gives  a  touching 
and  sorrowful  retrospect  of  them.  In  ch.  31  he  turns  to 
answer  the  charges  which  Eliphaz  made  against  him  in 
ch.  22.  Formally  and  solemnly  he  repudiates  the  charges 
of  oppression  of  the  poor,  invoking  the  curse  of  God  if  he 
is  guilty. 

The  argument  is  ended.  No  one  has  receded  from  his 
position.  The  friends  still  maintain  that  Job  has  sinned. 
Job  still  asserts  his  innocence.  They  have  appealed  to  God 
for  judgment ;  so  has  he.  He  has  swept  the  gamut  of 
emotion  from  calm  argument,  through  blank  despair  to  a 
stormy  arraignment  of  the  divine  justice,  but  his  convic- 
tion of  his  own  right  has  never  for  a  moment  wavered. 
The  solution  of  the  problem  is  left  where  it  began.  The 
debate  has  not  solved  it.  May  the  author  have  intended  to 
suggest  that  reasoning  cannot  solve  it? 

Now,  unexpectedly,  a  fifth  character  enters.  Elihu,  a 
young  man,  conceited  and  wordy,  with  all  the  self-confi- 
dence of  youth,  is  sure  he  has  a  solution  for  the  problem 
which  has  puzzled  his  elders  and  betters.  He  has  the  re- 
deeming quality  of  earnestness,  and  he  takes  himself  very 
seriously,  but  his  style  is  heavy  and  turgid,  not  equal  to  the 
rest  of  the  poem.    This  young  man  has  been  listening,  and 


JOB  187 

now  wishes  to  speak,  and  occupies  sixteen  verses  in  saying 
so.  In  ch.  ^^  he  turns  to  Job.  Job  has  asked  for  a  mediator 
between  himself  and  God.  Elihu  will  be  the  mediator. 
Job  complains  that  God  does  not  hear  him.  God  is  speaking 
to  him  through  these  afflictions,  sent  to  redeem  him  from 
sin.  If  he  will  hear  God,  prosperity  will  follow.  Elihu  offers 
Job  a  chance  to  answer,  but  in  vain.  Does  the  author  mean 
to  imply  that  Job  treats  him  with  contempt? 

In  ch.  34  he  turns  to  the  friends.  They  have  not  been 
able  to  answer  Job.  He  will  tell  them  what  they  should 
have  said.  Job  has  asserted  that  God  was  unjust.  They 
should  have  replied  that  this  is  inconceivable.  God  is  just 
to  both  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  and  metes  out  punish- 
ment as  men  deserve  it.  Job  has  shown  himself  both 
ignorant  and  impious.  The  friends  hear  him  in  silence.  He 
has  said  nothing  they  had  not  already  said  better.  Does  the 
author  mean  to  imply  that  they  also  treat  him  with  contempt? 

In  chs.  35  to  ^y  he  speaks  of  Job  once  more.  Job  has 
asserted  that  righteousness  does  not  profit.  That  is  false. 
He  has  asserted  that  his  cry  to  God  is  not  heard.  If  so, 
it  is  because  of  his  selfish  impiety  and  want  of  submission 
to  God's  will.  Let  Job  listen  to  his  defense  of  God,  and 
profit  from  it  (ch.  36).  God  afflicts  the  wicked  for  their 
own  good.  If  Job  will  accept  the  lesson  of  this  sorrow,  he 
will  yet  praise  God  for  it.  Notice  the  allusions  to  a  storm 
in  ch.  ;^y.  At  last  Elihu's  speech  seems  to  break  off  incom- 
plete. Does  the  author  intend  it  to  be  cut  off  by  the  rising 
storm  which  breaks  at  the  beginning  of  ch.  38? 

These  speeches  of  Elihu  present  one  of  the  problems  of 
the  poem.  Elihu  is  mentioned  neither  before  nor  after  in 
the  poem.  The  style  is  distinctly  poorer  than  the  other 
parts  of  the  book,  and  the  language  more  Aramaic.  They 
add  to  the  argument  only  the  thought  that  trouble  may  be 
sent  to  keep  from  sin  in  the  future,  as  well  as  to  punish  sin 
already  committed  {^t,.  14-22)  ;  but  this  is  expressed  very 
obscurely.     One  is  compelled  to  ask  if  the  author  of  Job, 


i88  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

who  is  elsewhere  a  hterary  artist,  has  here  lost  his  cunning. 
Are  the  speeches  of  Elihu  a  part  of  the  original  poem? 
The  problem  arises  not  merely  because  the  descent  from 
the  rest  of  the  poem  is  so  notable  that  it  is  almost  humorous, 
and'  the  verbose  self-assertions  of  this  youthful  dogmatist, 
mistaking  old  platitudes  for  new  wisdom,  border  on  the 
burlesque;  but  still  more  because  it  is  so  difficult  to  con- 
ceive any  adequate  reason  for  the  insertion  of  the  speeches. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  they  are  to  summarize  the  posi- 
tions of  the  friends ;  but  a  writer  so  skillful  as  this  author 
is  elsewhere  would  hardly  do  this  so  awkwardly.  Nor,  if 
he  wished  to  add  a  new  point,  would  he  need  to  introduce 
a  new  speaker;  nor  can  we  believe  that  he  deliberately 
intended  to  insert  in  this  earnest  debate  on  high  matters  a 
burlesque  character. 

The  usual  answer  to  the  problem  is  that  the  speeches 
are  the  addition  of  a  later  writer.  Some  one  who  thought 
that  he  could  put  more  clearly  the  arguments  of  the  friends 
has  inserted  these  speeches,  but  he  has  not  thereby  added 
to  the  value  of  the  poem.  This  position,  however,  is  not 
without  its  difficulties.  Would  any  writer,  it  may  be  asked, 
who  thought  highly  enough  of  the  positions  taken  by  Elihu 
to  invent  the  character  and  write  these  speeches,  have  been 
content  to  bring  his  speeches  to  an  inconclusive  and  some- 
what scornful  end,  snuffed  out  by  the  rising  storm  in  ch.  37  ? 
Is  this  turgid  writer  skillful  enough  to  adapt  the  close  of 
these  speeches  so  well  to  the  rising  storm?  Any  position  in 
the  subject  has  its  difficulties,  but  most  agree  that  the  fewest 
difficulties  lie  in  regarding  these  speeches  of  Elihu  as  a  later 
addition  to  the  poem. 

The  speeches  of  Jehovah  form  the  culmination  of  the 
book.  It  is  sometimes  suggested  that  the  very  form  of  the 
opening  sentences  is  imitative  of  the  peals  of  thunder,  be- 
coming gradually  longer  as  the  storm  rolls  away  in  the 
distance.  If  Elihu  is  in  the  original  poem,  the  first  words 
sweep  him  out  of  view;  if  not,  ch.  38  follows  after  31,  as  a 


JOB  189 

direct  answer  to  Job's  appeal  for  knowledge  of  God's  plan 
of  the  world.  The  speeches  divide  into  two  parts,  separated 
by  a  brief,  submissive  answer  from  Job.  The  first  part 
deals  with  God's  works  in  nature,  and  with  the  strange 
instincts  of  animals.  Can  Job  understand  these?  The 
second  consists  largely  of  the  description  of  the  two  some- 
what idealized  animals.  Can  Job  control  these?  And  the 
only  answer  Job  can  give  to  either  question  is,  "No" ;  he 
cannot  assume  to  possess  the  power  of  God. 

The  poet  intends  to  express  his  highest  conception  of 
divine  power  in  nature.  He  does  not  choose  quite  the 
things  we  would  select  at  present.  The  two  poems  about 
the  strange  beasts  are  sometimes  denied  to  the  original 
author,  but  this  seems  hardly  necessary. 

What  these  speeches  do  not  say  is  notable.  Here  is  not 
one  word  about  the  problem  over  which  Job  has  agonized ; 
no  explanation  of  his  torturing  sufferings,  no  word  about 
Job  at  all.  Instead  God  speaks  of  the  stars  and  the  rain 
and  horses  and  ostriches  and  Behemoth  and  Leviathan. 
Yet  at  the  end  Job  says,  "I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee"  (42.  5). 

What  was  there  in  this  speech  which  revealed  God  to 
Job?  At  first  sight  it  seems  merely  designed  to  overwhelm 
Job  with  God's  greatness  and  man's  littleness.  It  seems 
to  demand  from  Job  the  very  thing  he  felt  the  friends  de- 
manded— slavish  submission  to  arbitrary  power.  But,  after 
all,  there  is  a  radical  difference.  The  friends  had  said : 
"God  is  just.  That  means  that  all  suffering  comes  from 
sin.  Tradition  teaches  it,  we  assert  it,  and  you  must  accept 
it."  These  speeches  say,  "Look  about  you  and  see  the 
evidences  of  God's  greatness  and  goodness  in  nature ;  and 
yet  you  cannot  understand  nature."  There  is  no  word  here 
of  Job's  suffering,  but  the  author  is  skillful  enough  to  see 
that  is  not  necessary.  Job,  agonizing  over  his  great  problem, 
will  turn  all  things  to  its  solution.  The  author  leaves  him 
to  infer  that  if  he  cannot  understand  nature,  still  less  can 


I90  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

he  understand  human  Hfe.  The  friends  say,  "You  have 
sinned,  and  therefore  you  suffer."  Jehovah  implies  rather 
than  says :  "Your  suffering  is  a  mystery ;  but  all  the  world 
is  a  mystery,  the  good  and  the  evil  alike.  Trust  God  with 
both."  Is  this  a  solution  of  the  problem?  By  no  means. 
It  is  only  an  answer  of  religious  faith.  It  is  as  though  the 
author  had  said,  "There  is  no  intellectual  solution  to  the 
problem  of  suffering ;  but  there  is  an  attitude  of  mind  which 
ceases  to  demand  a  solution,  and  is  satisfied  to  argue  from 
the  wisdom  of  God  in  what  we  can  see  to  the  wisdom  of  God 
in  what  we  cannot  see."    To  realize  this  is  "seeing  God." 

The  final  portion  of  the  book  is  the  prose  epilogue,  ch, 
42.  7  to  17.  It  tells  the  restoration  of  Job's  prosperity; 
condemns  the  friends,  and  justifies  Job.  The  friends  had 
said  much  that  was  true,  but  they  had  ignored  the  enigmas 
of  life  in  the  interests  of  traditional  theology.  This  was 
more  dishonorable  to  God  than  Job's  frank  attitude  of 
puzzled  faith  in  the  presence  of  these  enigmas.  Honesty 
is  better  than  orthodoxy,  if  both  cannot  be  had  together. 

Is  the  poetic  dignity  of  the  book  lowered  by  the  fact 
that  the  justification  lies  in  material  prosperity?  Why 
descend  to  this  plane,  as  though  the  only  way  God  could 
show  his  blessing  was  by  wealth,  family,  and  long  life? 

Think  of  the  attitude  of  the  writer  regarding  the  future 
life.  Any  expression  of  God's  approval  of  Job  must  come 
in  this  life.  The  epilogue  is  in  the  atmosphere  of  the 
prologue.  Job  has  been  tested,  and  has  stood  the  test.  It 
would  have  been  unjust  that  he  should  not  have  had  his 
reward.  A  modern  writer  need  not  have  brought  the  reward 
in  wealth  and  length  of  days,  for  he  can  consider  eternity 
as  the  field  of  reward ;  this  author  could  not. 

The  origin  of  the  story  of  Job  cannot  be  traced.  The 
name,  as  used  in  Ezek  14.  14,  shows  a  popular  story  of  a 
man  accounted  righteous.  There  are  elements  of  folklore 
in  the  repetition,  the  systematic  development,  and  the  simple 
directness  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue.     The  long  and 


JOB  191 

elaborate  speeches,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  folk-tale,  but 
literary  development.  The  author  has  adapted  this  old  story 
to  his  own  purpose.  It  is  as  futile  to  ask  how  much  he  has 
changed  as  it  would  be  to  ask  that  question  of  Tennyson's 
Idyls  of  the  King,  were  all  our  knowledge  of  the  legend  of 
King  Arthur  derived  from  these  poems. 

The  date  of  the  book  is  postexilic.  With  the  exile  the 
problem  of  sufifering  became  acute,  as  Habakkuk  and  the 
servant  passages  of  Second  Isaiah  show.  But  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  older  theology  died  out.  In  fact, 
the  book  of  Proverbs  is  as  simple  in  its  statement  of  the 
connection  of  sin  and  suffering  as  any  of  the  early  prophets. 
Old  theologies  by  no  means  disappear  from  popular  thought 
because  new  theories  are  put  forward  by  a  few  thinkers ; 
and  at  any  time  after  the  beginning  of  the  exile  this  subject 
might  have  commanded  attention.  General  literary  con- 
siderations suggest  a  date  about  300. 

The  book  offers  various  solutions  of  the  problem  of 
suffering,  (i)  The  prologue:  suffering  is  God's  test  of 
goodness.  (2)The  friends:  suffering  is  a  just  judgment 
for  sin.  (3)  Elihu:  suffering  is  God's  warning  to  keep  men 
from  future  sin.  (4)  Jehovah's  speeches:  the  whole  uni- 
verse is  a  mystery,  the  good  as  well  as  the  evil ;  trust  God 
with  both.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  writer  is  specially  in- 
terested in  combatting  the  theory  of  the  friends,  and  that 
his  own  opinion  is  expressed  in  the  speeches  of  Jehovah. 

The  book  may  also  be  regarded  as  reaching  beyond  the 
mere  problem  of  suffering,  to  all  the  mystery  of  life.  There 
is  no  puzzle  of  living  which  is  not  met  by  the  principle  of 
trust  here  expressed.  The  present  religious  value  of  the 
book  lies  in  its  suggestion  about  two  things :  ( i )  Suffering. 
This  problem  grows  not  less  perplexing,  but  more,  as  the 
world  goes  on.  The  wider  the  range  of  vision,  the  greater 
amount  of  suffering  is  seen ;  while  philosophy  presents  no 
solution  to  its  problem.  It  is  not  always  caused  by  sin ;  nor 
always,  as  far  as  man  can  see,  remediable.     The  Oriental 


192  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

solution  of  Karma  does  not  satisfy.  Men  are  driven  back 
to  the  religions  answer  of  Job:  All  life  is  a  mystery;  trust 
God  with  it.  (2)  Trust.  This  book  is  the  loftiest  expression 
of  trust  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  shows  trust  as  an  intel- 
lectual attainment,  which  comes  by  reasoning  from  the 
visible  wisdom  of  God  to  his  invisible  wisdom.  Trust  is 
not  opposed  to  reason.  On  the  contrary,  it  must  be  based 
on  reason,  otherwise  it  is  mere  credulity.  Trust  is  a  reason- 
able inference  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  and  the 
nature  of  it  is  the  same  whether  in  the  character  of  a  friend 
or  in  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  Almighty  God.  The  finest 
literary  product  of  the  Old  Testament  is  also  its  finest  ex- 
pression of  religious  trust. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 
/.     The  Prologue  and  the  First  Cycle  of  Speeches 
Read  the  prologue.     What  is  its  object?    How  does  it  introduce 

the  debate? 
What  were  its  literary  characteristics?     Are  they  those  of  the 

folk-tale  ? 
What  is  the  use  of  Satan  in  the  story?     Is  he  the  Satan  of  the 
New  Testament?     Compare  with  the  Satan  of  Zech  3.  iff. 

4.  How  does  ch.  3  lead  to  the  debate  which  follows? 

5.  Write  the   substance  of  the   speech   of  each   of  the   friends   in 

the  first  cycle;  chs.  4  and  5,  8,  11. 

6.  State  the  substance  in  Job's  speeches  in  chs.  6,  7  and  12-14. 

7.  Summarize  the  first  cycle:  (a)  the  position  of  the  friends;   (6) 

of  Job.    What  is  the  result  of  the  argument  in  this  cycle? 

//.     Tlie  Second  and  Third  Cycles 

8.  Write  the  substance  of  chs.  15,  18,  20.     What  does  each  chapter 

attempt  to  prove? 

9.  What  is  the  substance  of  Job's  speeches  in  chs.  16,  17,  19,  21. 

10.  Make  a  careful  study  of  19.  23-27,  to  find  its  exact  meaning. 

Compare  14.  7-12. 

11.  Which  most  nearly  represents  the  facts  of  life;  Zophar's  posi- 

tion in  ch.  20,  or  Job's  in  21  ? 

12.  What  is  the  state  of  progress  of  the  argument  at  the  end  of  the 

second  cycle? 

13.  State  the   substance  of   chs.   22,   25,  26,  27.    1-6.     Compare  25 


JOB  193 

with  4.  I7ff.     Why  does  the  author  repeat?     How  can  26  fit 
into  the  thought  of  Job? 

14.  Compare  27.  7-23  with  ch.  20.     Is  it  Zophar's? 

15.  Make  an  outHne  of  28.     Compare  the  idea  of  wisdom  in  Prov  8. 

16.  How  do  chs.  30  and  31   answer  the  charges  in  ch.  22?     How 

does  it  form  an  appropriate  close  of  the  debate? 

17.  Write  a  summary  of  each  cycle  of  the  debate.     What  is  the 

final  outcome  as  to  the  problem  of  Job's  sufferings? 

///.     The  Elihu  and  Jehovah  Speeches,  and   the  Epilogue 

18.  Read  chs.  2^,  22),  34.  27-     What  are  the  arguments  of   Elihu? 

Compare  with  the  speeches  of  the  friends  as  to  conciseness 
and  force. 

19.  Chs.  38  to  41.     Write  an  outline  of  each  of  the  two  speeches 

of  Jehovah,  and  make  a  summary  of  their  argument.    How  do 
they  apply  to  Job's  problem  ? 

20.  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  epilogue?     Is  it  an  anticlimax? 

21.  Add  to  the  summaries  of  Topic   17,  those  of  the  speeches  of 

Elihu  and  Jehovah,  and  of  the  epilogue.     What  is  the  course 
of  thought  in  the  book?    What  does  the  writer  intend  to  show? 

22.  What  are  the  finest  passages  in  the  book,  and  why? 

23.  Does  the  book  present  a   satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem 

of  suffering?    If  not,  what  is  its  religious  value? 


CHAPTER  XXV 
ECCLESIASTES 

The  English  title  of  the  book  is  borrowed  from  Greek. 
It  is  an  attempt  to  translate  the  Hebrew  title,  Qoheleth 
(Koheleth)  which  is  the  word  translated  "Preacher"  in 
the  text  of  the  book.  The  word  is  found  here  only  in  Hebrew 
literature,  and  may  have  been  invented  by  the  writer.  It 
probably  means  a  speaker  in  an  assembly.  "Debater"  would 
perhaps  be  a  better  translation  than  "Preacher." 

Tradition  assigned  this  book  to  Solomon,  but  scholarship 
now  universally  denies  this.  ( i )  The  book  itself  does  not 
assert  it.  True,  it  opens  with  a  section  thrown  into  the  form 
of  the  autobiography  of  a  "king  in  Jerusalem,"  and  there 
is  little  doubt  that  the  writer  had  Solomon  in  mind;  but 
there  is  quite  as  little  doubt  that  the  autobiography  is 
imaginary.  (2)  The  historical  situation  contains  no  reflec- 
tions of  the  time  of  Solomon ;  the  tone  of  the  book  is  not  that 
of  a  period  when  a  nation  was  growing,  but  rather  that  of 
a  period  of  decline  and  discouragement.  (3)  Above  all,  the 
Hebrew  is  very  late.  It  is  as  difficult  to  suppose  that  this 
book  was  written  in  the  time  of  Solomon  as  to  suppose  that 
the  poems  of  Kipling  were  written  in  Shakespeare's  time. 
Language  and  thought  both  demand  a  very  late  date  in  the 
Hebrew  development.  Most  scholars  put  it  at  the  beginning 
of  the  second  century  before  Christ.  It  is  used  freely  by 
the  author  of  Ecclesiasticus,  a  book  written  180-175  B.  C. 
Possibly  the  slight  historical  references  in  4.  13-16  to  10. 
16,  17  may  fix  the  limits  of  the  book.  They  may  refer  to 
Ptolemy  IV  as  the  "old  and  foolish  king"  (d.  205  B.  C), 
to  Ptolemy  V  as  the  "poor  and  wise  youth,"  and  to  Anti- 
ochus  III,  whose  reign  the  Jews  welcomed  in  198  B.  C,  as 

194 


ECCLESIASTES  195 

the  other  youth.  Certainly,  the  book  was  written  somewhere 
at  the  end  of  the  third  or  the  beginning  of  the  second  century 
before  Christ,  perhaps  between  198  and  180.  As  with  all 
the  Wisdom  books,  nothing  is  known  of  the  author. 

The  book  is  mostly  prose,  interspersed,  after  the  manner 
of  much  Oriental  literature,  with  short  sections  in  verse. 
The  first  and  last  parts  consist  of  connected  sections,  the 
middle  being  less  connected,  sometimes  even  disintegrating 
into  proverbs.  It  has  often  been  claimed  that  Epicurean  or 
Stoic  expressions  and  thoughts  are  found  in  Ecclesiastes, 
but  the  likenesses  are  not  great  enough  to  indicate  direct 
borrowing.  The  truth  seems,  rather,  to  be  that  the  same 
stage  of  evolution  produces  kindred  thoughts  in  different 
races,  as  disillusionment  often  causes  our  modern  life  to 
feel  an  affinity  with  the  cheerful  skepticism  of  Omar  Khay- 
yam. 

Ecclesiastes  is  not  obscure,  but  it  requires  a  more  careful 
reading  for  its  comprehension  than  any  other  book  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  author's  point  of  view  is  different  from 
that  of  any  other  biblical  writer,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is 
difHcult  for  a  modern  reader  not  to  make  him  seem  more 
skeptical  and  more  pessimistic  than  he  really  is.  Once 
started  in  his  direction,  we  are  liable  to  go  farther  than  he 
does. 

The  first  section,  i.  2-1 1,  is  an  introduction.  The  problem 
of  the  book  is  stated  in  v.  3.  Notice  that  it  is  not,  Is  life 
worth  living?  It  is,  What  constitutes  the  real  value  of  life? 
When  it  is  through,  has  man  any  profit,  any  wages  left 
over,  as  the  result  of  his  living?  The  introduction  turns 
to  nature  for  an  analogy.  Nature  is  one  round ;  there  is  no 
surplusage,  or  profit,  nothing  left  over.  It  is  all  empty, 
vanity. 

Chapters  i.  12  to  2,  26  turn  to  human  life.  Has  that  any 
profit?  The  writer  chooses  the  character  which  Hebrew- 
tradition  presents  as  the  richest,  wisest,  most  powerful  in 
its  history,  King  Solomon,     Suppose  one  had  all  that  tra- 


196  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

dition  ascribed  to  him,  would  there  not  be  some  profit  from 
such  a  Hfe?  There  are  certainly  lessons  to  be  learned  from 
it.  Wisdom  is  better  than  folly ;  but  when  life  is  over,  the 
wise  man  and  the  fool  both  die,  and  sink  to  a  common  lot. 
The  thought  brings  hatred  for  the  labor  which  life  involves ; 
but  there  is,  after  all,  a  further  consideration,  and  in  this 
the  author  voices  the  sane,  healthful  note  of  the  book.  The 
real  value  of  life  consists,  not  in  something  remaining  over 
at  its  end,  but  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  day  as  the  day  goes 
on.  The  simple  goods  of  life,  and  the  very  labor  itself, 
furnish  an  enjoyment  which  is  the  real  profit  of  life  (2.  24). 
Notice  what  the  author  has  put  forward,  in  this  ideal  auto- 
biography, as  being  the  goods  of  life.  Is  there  any  element 
of  unselfishness,  any  suggestion  of  the  ministry  of  service 
in  it?  Has  it  been  getting  or  giving?  Does  it  exhaust  the 
possibilities  of  the  values  of  life? 

Chapter  3  comments  on  man's  helplessness  in  the  grasp  of 
nature  and  of  the  circumstances  of  human  life.  In  modern 
terms,  both  his  philosophical  questionings  and  his  ethical 
instincts  are  unsatisfied.  In  neither  of  these  can  he  find  the 
profit  of  life.  In  3.  igff.  we  begin  to  see  one  of  the  problems, 
perhaps  the  great  problem,  which  has  led  the  writer  to  raise 
this  question  of  profit  in  life.  There  were  those  in  his 
time  who  said  that  the  real  profit,  the  actual  wages  of  life, 
come  not  in  this  life  but  in  another.  This  seems  to  the 
writer  of  Ecclesiastes  a  dangerous,  even  an  immoral,  doc- 
trine. It  leads  men  to  let  go  a  present  certainty  for  a  future 
possibility.  What  proof  is  there  of  a  future  life?  He  who 
does  not  take  the  good  of  the  day  as  it  passes  will  never  have 
any  good  at  all.  There  are  no  wages  to  put  aside  when 
the  day  is  over.  He  who  hopes  for  that  lives  in  a  fool's 
paradise,  and  fritters  away  realities  for  a  dream.  This  is 
both  unwise  and  irreligious.  God  has  given  men  both  the 
labors  and  the  pleasures  of  the  day ;  that  men  should  enjoy 
them  is  the  wages  which  he  has  set.  Why  should  men  turn 
from  his  good  gifts  to  dream  the  dreams  of  fools? 


ECCLESIASTES  197 

Ooheleth  continues  his  comments  on  life,  refusing  to  in- 
dulge in  radiant  visions,  but  facing  the  disagreeable  facts 
as  they  actually  exist,  and  turning  now  and  then,  as  in  9.  2- 
10,  to  his  fundamental  philosophy  of  life.  Do  not  paint 
roseate  pictures,  he  says.  Life  is  hard  and  unjust  and  full 
of  inequalities  and  incomprehensible;  and  moreover,  you 
cannot  look  for  any  reward  when  you  get  through.  It  is 
empty,  vanity.  Its  real  value  lies,  not  in  wages  outside 
of  life,  but  in  life  itself,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  passing  hour, 
in  the  work  of  the  day  in  its  day.  Live  in  life  itself,  not  in 
dreaming  and  sentimentality.  Chapters  11.  i  to  12.  8  present 
Qoheleth's  conclusion.  Since  no  one  can  tell  what  the 
future  may  hold,  the  only  wise  course  is  to  take  wide  ven- 
tures, divide  enterprises,  use  efforts  in  various  directions, 
do  the  duties  which  fall  to  one  heartily  and  well,  and  know 
that  God  stands  behind  all  the  contingencies  of  human  life. 
For  the  young  he  has  special  counsels.  Let  them  enjoy 
life  to  the  full,  making  the  most  of  their  youth,  but  in  such 
a  way  that  they  can  lay  it  all  before  God  for  his  approval. 
It  is  right  to  enjoy  youth,  because  old  age  hastens  on,  and 
then  death  ends  all,  and  the  weakened  body  sinks  to  the  dust, 
and  the  breath,  the  principle  of  life,  goes  back  to  God  who 
gave  it.  Take  the  good  of  life  as  it  goes.  There  is  nothing 
left  over.    At  the  end  it  is  all  emptiness. 

The  close  of  the  book,  12.  9-14,  is  undoubtedly  editorial 
addition.  The  commendations  of  the  book  are  hardly  in  the 
tone  we  should  expect  from  its  writer.  Qoheleth,  says  the 
editor,  was  a  wise  man.  He  has  carefully  sought  out  the 
truth.  Many  books  are  made  in  our  day ;  to  study  them  all 
would  be  a  weariness ;  but  here  is  a  little  book  which  is 
worthy  of  stud}\  The  last  two  verses  seem  to  be  added  in  the 
interests  of  orthodoxy.  The  conclusion  of  this  book,  says  the 
editor,  is  "Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this 
is  the  whole  duty  of  man."  But  does  that  sum  up  its  teach- 
ing? 

The  reason  for  both  these  editorial  notes  is  not  far  to  seek. 


iqS         the  bible  as  literature 

The  book  was  regarded  by  many  of  the  rabbis  as  being 
heretical.  At  the  Council  of  Jamnia  its  place  in  the  canon 
was  discussed.  The  great  reason  for  admitting  it  was  doubt- 
less the  belief  in  its  Solomonic  authorship ;  but,  as  with  the 
Song  of  Songs,  its  secular  character  was  against  it.  These 
closing  notes  seem  to  have  been  written  to  commend  it  as 
a  religious  book.  The  idea  arose  that  it  was  written  by 
Solomon  in  his  old  age,  to  show  the  vanity  of  all  worldly 
pursuits  and  the  satisfaction  of  fearing  God  and  keeping  his 
commandments. 

Are  there  other  additions  to  the  original  book,  besides  the 
verses  at  the  end?  On  this  subject  modern  scholarship 
holds  a  wide  variety  of  opinions.  Some  regard  the  book 
as  a  unity,  excepting  the  closing  verses.  Some  regard  it 
as  a  composite  work,  whose  original  form  is  so  overlaid  with 
later  additions  that  it  presents  a  literary  patchwork.  Others 
hold  that  the  body  of  the  book  can  easily  be  discerned,  but 
that  it  has  had  additions  from  editors,  some  working  in  the 
interest  of  orthodoxy,  others  of  a  love  for  Wisdom  literature. 
One,  two,  or  three  such  editors  are  sometimes  distinguished. 
It  may  not  be  possible  to  reach  dogmatic  conclusions.  How 
far  the  variations  of  the  book  represent  varying  moods  of  the 
original  writer  is  not  easy  to  determine.  The  most  decisive 
question  is,  Are  there  notes  in  the  book  which  express  an 
attitude  directly  contrary  to  its  fundamental  conceptions? 
If  so,  that  would  be  presumptive  evidence  of  editorial  addi- 
tions. A  moderate  list  of  passages  claimed  as  such  additions 
is  the  following:  2.  26;  4.  5 ;  5.  3 ;  7.  3,  5,  6-9  11,  12,  19; 
8.  I ;  9.  17;  10.  1-3,  8-i4a,  15,  18,  19.  An  examination  of 
these  would  show  certain  discrepancies  of  thought  from  the 
rest  of  the  book.  They  are  at  least  so  uncertain  that  they 
should  not  be  used  in  gathering  up  the  writer's  main 
thoughts. 

Qoheleth's  philosophy  of  life  is  sane  and  wholesome. 
Many  people  would  still  find  life  more  valuable  if  they  could 
learn  his  lesson  of  finding  enjoyment  in  each  day  as  it  passes, 


ECCLESIASTES  199 

rather  than  looking  to  some  future  time  for  it.  The  future 
time  which  they  anticipate  may  never  come.  A  few  genera- 
tions later  no  Hebrew  writer  would  have  taken  his  skeptical 
view  of  life  after  death ;  but  there  have  been  ages  in  Chris- 
tian history  when  the  worth  of  the  future  life  has  over- 
shadowed too  much  the  worth  of  the  present  life.  Qoheleth 
is  not  irreligious,  not  gloomy,  not  skeptical,  not  pessimistic, 
if  by  pessimism  one  means  a  point  of  view  which  sees  no 
value  in  life.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  be  called  gloriously 
optimistic.  Qoheleth  sees  all  the  inequalities  of  life,  all  its 
mysteries  and  its  disillusions,  the  hollowness  of  the  things 
which  men  seek  most  eagerly,  the  uselessness  of  any  hope 
of  life  after  death,  and  yet  loses  neither  his  confidence  in 
God  nor  his  sense  of  the  real  value  of  life.  Modern  life 
can  add  to  it  the  hope  of  future  life,  the  value  of  social 
service  and  the  warmth  of  trust  in  a  loving  Father,  as  well 
as  in  the  Eternal  Wisdom ;  but  Qoheleth's  fundamental  con- 
ception of  the  value  of  life  as  lying  in  the  worth  of  the  simple 
things  of  daily  living  still  stands. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Read  chapters   i  and  2.     Describe  the  life  represented.     What 

is  the  purpose  of  the  author  in  this  section? 

2.  What  is  the  estimate  of  the  value  of  life,  in  3.  g-13;  5-   18.  iP; 

8.  15  to  9.   I ;  9.  7? 

3.  The  ideas  of  future  life  in  3.  16-22;  9.  2-6;  9.  10;  12.  7? 

4.  What  is  Qoheleth's  advice  in  religious  matters,  5.   1-7? 

5.  Read  chs.  3  to  6.    What  is  the  substance  of  thought? 

6.  Read  chs.  7  to  10.    What  are  the  chief  ideas? 
Express  in  your  own  v^^ords  the  ideas  of  ch.  11.  i  to  12.  8. 
What  is  the  editor's  commendation  of  the  book  in  12.  9-12? 
How   would  you   sum   up   the   book   from   your   own    reading? 

Compare  your  summary  with  12.  13,  14. 

10.  Are  the  passages  noted  above  (p.  198)   so  out  of  harmony  that 

they  are  best  explained  as  interpolations? 

11.  What  is  Qoheleth's  philosophy  of  life?     Is  it  satisfactory?     Is 

it  morally  wholesome? 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON  AND  LAMENTATIONS 

The  Song  of  Solomon  (Song  of  Songs,  or  Canticles) 
should  be  read,  whenever  possible,  in  the  Revised  Version. 
No  book  in  the  Old  Testament  suffers  so  much  in  the  King 
James  Version  as  this. 

The  reader  who  approaches  the  poem  without  prejudice 
finds  it  of  great  interest;  and  the  more  familiar  he  is  with 
Oriental  poetry  the  more  interesting  he  finds  it.  There  are 
plenty  of  passages  in  it  which  are  obscure,  but  there  is  a 
lilt  to  the  verse,  a  tone  of  joyousness,  a  frankness  of  expres- 
sion which  is  refreshing  amid  the  repression  of  our  sophisti- 
cated Western  literature.  There  is  also  a  fine  feeling  for 
nature  which  is  hardly  equaled  elsewhere  in  Hebrew  poetry. 
The  subject  is  plainly  love.  There  is  nothing  specifically 
religious  in  the  book.  That  is,  it  does  not  discuss  the  relation 
of  God  to  life,  and  we  are  accustomed  to  limit  religious  liter- 
ature to  that  which  does. 

This  raises  the  question  of  how  a  book  seemingly  so  secular 
came  to  be  in  the  Bible,  which  is  in  the  main  a  collection  of 
religious  literature.  The  question  is  old.  At  the  Council 
of  Jamnia,  A.  D.  90,  the  Jewish  rabbis  discussed  whether 
this  book,  among  others,  had  a  right  to  a  place  among  the 
sacred  books.  Two  things  finally  won  it  a  place  in  the  canon. 
One  was  the  tradition,  already  ernbodied  in  the  heading, 
that  it  was  the  work  of  King  Solomon.  This,  however,  did 
not  meet  the  objection  of  the  obviously  secular  subject  of 
the  book.  The  religious  interpretation  of  the  book  was 
secured  by  treating  it  as  allegory.  The  Greek  scholiasts 
were  already  so  treating  the  poems  of  Homer,  and  finding 


SONG  OF  SONGS  AND  LAMENTATIONS    201 

philosophical  truths  in  discreditable  stories.  Philo,  the 
Jewish  philosopher  of  Alexandria,  had  allegorized  the  stories 
of  Genesis.  It  was  natural  that  the  rabbis  should  make  this 
book  an  allegory  of  the  love  of  God  and  the  Jewish  people. 
When  the  Christians  began  to  use  the  Jewish  Scriptures, 
they  turned  the  book  into  an  allegory  of  the  love  of  Christ 
and  the  church,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  chapter  headings  of 
the  King  James  Version.  There  is  no  harm  in  such  alle- 
gorizing. Any  group  of  pure  love  songs  might  be  thus  used. 
But  it  is  certain  that  the  writer  of  these  poems  had  no 
thought  of  any  such  secondary  meanings.  He  was  simply 
writing  love  songs. 

The  literary  form  of  these  poems  has  been  much  dis- 
cussed. Until  the  present  generation  an  interpretation  long 
held  was  that  they  represent  a  dramatic  story.  The  earlier 
interpretation  made  it  a  dramatic  dialogue  between  Solomon 
and  his  bride,  but  later  a  more  romantic  story  was  read  into 
it.  According  to  this  interpretation,  Solomon,  on  one  of  his 
royal  progresses,  saw  a  shepherd  maiden,  whom  he  wished 
to  introduce  into  his  harem.  She,  however,  was  in  love 
with  a  shepherd,  and  all  the  terms  of  praise  which  Solomon 
applied  to  her,  she  transferred  to  this  lover.  The  drama  is 
one  of  thought  rather  than  of  action ;  and  much  of  it  is 
soliloquy.  At  last,  to  his  honor  be  it  said,  Solomon  dismissed 
the  girl  to  her  lover,  and  the  last  scene  is  the  wedding  of 
the  shepherd  and  his  bride  in  the  country.  More  or  less 
violence  has  to  be  done  to  the  text  to  reconstruct  this  drama 
out  of  it.  It  contains  numerous  improbabilities.  The  real 
drama  is  not  known  elsewhere  in  Hebrew  literature.  Even  if 
the  book  is  a  drama,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  an  Oriental 
writer  thinking  that  a  king  would  give  up  a  proposed  inmate 
of  his  household  simply  because  she  loves  another.  The 
longer  this  interpretation  was  considered,  the  more  diffi- 
culties it  met,  until  it  has  been  practically  abandoned.  The 
next  theory  of  interpretation  was  based  on  the  Syrian  wed- 
ding customs.    The  wedding  week  was  filled  with  festivities. 


202  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITER-VTURE 

in  which  the  village  groom  and  bride  were  king  and  queen, 
and  the  threshing  floor  was  the  place  of  a  cycle  of  dances 
and  songs  in  their  praise.  The  theory  is  that  this  book  is 
a  collection  of  such  a  cycle  of  songs.  If  so,  they  are  some- 
what disarranged,  and  some  of  them  are  broken  up  and 
found  in  scattered  fragments,  ^^'hether  they  belong  to  a 
definite  cycle  or  not,  it  is  very  possible  that  they  are  a  group 
of  wedding  songs.  Every  one  who  has  been  at  an  Eastern 
wedding  knows  that  such  songs  are  sung  by  the  professional 
singers,  when  bride  and  groom  are  idealized,  and  the  singers 
take  the  liberty  of  ascribing  to  them  sentiments  that  would 
hardly  fit  into  the  actualities  of  Oriental  life.  While  it 
may  be  no  longer  possible  for  us  to  say  under  what  circum- 
stances these  songs  were  written,  it  may  well  be  supposed 
that  they  are  a  group  of  songs  which  were  sung  by  profes- 
sional singers,  and  which  thus  became  preserved.  He  who 
wrote  them  was  a  true  poet.  We  may  be  glad  that  they 
have  been  preserved  in  the  Bible.  Love  makes  much  of  the 
joy  of  life,  and  of  its  sorrow  as  well.  It  enters  largely  into 
our  literature  and  it  is  fitting  that  there  should  be  one  book 
in  the  Bible  devoted  to  its  frank  praise.  Of  course  the  form 
of  the  songs  is  Oriental  and  ancient.  That  means  that  they 
are  more  sensuous  and  less  spiritual  than  they  would  be 
if  written  to-day  in  the  \\'est ;  but  the  substance  is  broadly 
human,  belonging  to  all  races  and  times. 

The  number  of  the  songs  has  been  variously  estimated.  It 
is  difficult  to  tell  how  many  there  were  originally.  Nor  is 
it  possible  to  assign  an  exact  date  for  their  composition.  The 
Hebrew  shows  evidences  of  late  composition  in  its  vocabu- 
lary and  its  grammar.  References  to  Solomon  and  to 
Tirzah,  the  ancient  capital  of  Xorth  Israel,  are  therefore 
obviously  the  result  of  tradition.  Whether  these  songs  may 
rest  on  others  still  older,  one  cannot  say.  They  are  certainly 
interesting  as  giving  suggestions  of  the  existence  of  a 
literature  of  Hebrew  secular  poetry  which  has  not  been  pre- 
served. 


SONG  OF  SONGS  AND  LAMENTATIONS    203 

Lamentations 

Among  the  five  Megilloth  (Rolls)  of  the  Hebrew  Bible 
is  a  collection  of  five  dirges  over  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in 
586  B.  C.  By  the  time  of  the  LXX  translation  the  tradition 
had  arisen  that  Jeremiah  was  their  author,  and  the  Greek 
translators  embodied  that  tradition  in  their  title,  "the 
Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,"  and  placed  the  book  after  the 
prophecy  of  Jeremiah.  This  is  the  position  it  still  has  in 
our  Bibles,  and  the  tradition  of  its  authorship  has  helped  to 
fasten  upon  Jeremiah  the  unjust  name  of  the  weeping 
prophet.  The  artificial  form  of  the  poetry  is  very  different 
from  Jeremiah's  spontaneous  style,  and  some  of  the  expres- 
sions could  hardly  have  come  from  him:  4.  17  does  not 
represent  his  expectation  of  Egypt,  nor  4.  20  his  opinion 
of  Zedekiah.  It  is  not  certain  that  the  poems  are  all  from 
the  same  author,  for  the  order  of  the  alphabetic  arrange- 
ment in  the  first  differs  from  that  in  the  others. 

There  are  two  great  literary  peculiarities  of  this  book: 
(i)  The  meter;  long  lines  with  a  csesural  pause  in  the 
middle,  a  kind  of  verse  usually  called  qina  (Hebrew, 
elegiac),  but  which  is  used  for  other  verse  besides  eleg}^ 
(2)  The  alphabetic  arrangement.  Chapters  i  and  2  are 
composed  of  verses  of  three  lines  each,  the  first  lines  of  the 
successive  verses  beginning  with  successive  letters  of  the 
Hebrew  alphabet.  The  following  arrangement  will  illus- 
trate the  alphabetic  form,  using  English  letters  in  the  place 
of  Hebrew. 

Verse  i.     A  city  that  sitteth  in  solitude,  she  that  was  full  of  people, 
She  has  become  as  a  widow,  she  that  was  great  among 

nations ; 
She    has    become    tributary,    she    that    was    princess    in 
provinces. 

Verse  2.     But  she  wcepeth  sore  in  the  night,  and  her  tears  are  on 
her  cheeks, 


2  04  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Verse  3.     Captivitj'  has  come  unto  Judah,  affliction  and  servitude 
heavy, 


Chapter  3  is  also  composed  of  groups  of  three  Hnes,  but 
here  each  hue  of  the  group  begins  with  the  same  letter.  Our 
Bible  tries  to  indicate  a  difference  from  chs.  i  and  2  by 
numbering  each  line  in  ch.  3  as  a  separate  verse,  making  66 
instead  of  22  verses. 

Verse  i.     A  man  that  hath  seen  affliction  by  the  rod  of  his  wrath 

am  I ; 
And  he  led  me  to  walk  in  the  darkness,  and  not  in  the 

h'ght  of  day. 
Against  me  he  turneth  his  hand  again  and  again  all  the 

day. 

Verse  2.     Broken  my  bones  hath  he,  my  flesh  and  my  skin  is  made 

old; 
Builded    against   me   hath   he,    and    surrounded    me    with 

affliction. 
Brought  me  to  dwell  in  the  darkness,  as  though   I   had 

long  been  dead. 

Verse  3.     Captive,  he  fences  me  in,  and  loads  mc   wiih   fetters  of 

iron ; 
Call  I  for  help,  it  is  vain,  he  closeth  his  ears  to  my  cry. 
Crooked  he  made  all   my  paths,   and   shut  in   my  ways 

with  his  walls. 

Chapter  4  is  like  i  and  2,  except  that  it  has  two  lines  in 
a  verse.  Chapter  5  is  not  alphabetically  arranged,  but  it  has 
twenty-two  verses,  the  same  number  as  the  letters  in  the 
Hebrew  alphabet.  It  is  also  not  in  qina  meter.  The 
later  Hebrew  writers  used  acrostic  poetry  more  than  modern 
writers.  We  have  examples  in  Prov  31.  10-31,  Psa  118, 
and  other  places.  The  most  striking  thing  regarding  its 
use  in  Lamentations  is  that  so  mechanical  a  form  of  verse 
should  be  chosen  to  express  a  profound  emotion.  It  is 
interesting  that  the  most  elaborate  elegy  in  English,  Tenny- 


SONG  OF  SONGS  AND  LAMENTATIONS    205 

son's   "In   Memoriam,"   is   also   expressed   in   very    formal 
verse. 

The  intensity  of  the  emotion  shown  in  most  of  these 
poems  seems  to  mark  a  time  not  far  from  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem.  Chapter  3  may  be  an  exception,  and  may  come 
from  a  later  date.  All  represent  the  prophetic  element  of 
the  nation.  The  authors  think  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  as 
the  result  of  the  sin  of  the  people,  and  the  greatest  source 
of  grief  is  not,  after  all,  the  destruction  of  the  nation,  but 
the  feeling  that  their  God  has  turned  away  from  them  in 
anger.  Nowhere  in  literature  is  there  a  more  stately  and 
dignified  expression  of  profound  national  sorrow  in  national 
disaster  than  in  this  group  of  elegies. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 
Song  of  Solomon 

1.  Read  chs.  i  and  2.     What  are  the  qualities  of  the  poetry? 

2.  What  allusions  to  nature?     For  what  purpose  are  they  used? 

Lamentations 

1.  Read  some  of  each  poem,   to   see  length  of   lines,  parallelism, 

subject  matter. 

2.  Read  with   care   any  two  of  the  first   four   poems,   noting  the 

ideas  emphasized,  the  historical  references,  the  explanation, 
if  any,  of  the  national  disasters,  the  hope  of  the  future,  the 
religious  conceptions. 

3.  Compare  the  religious  conceptions  of  these  poems  with  those 

of  the  prophets,  especially  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel. 

4.  What  are  the   literary  qualities  of  these   poems? 


APOCALYPTIC  LITERATURE 


207 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
APOCALYPTIC  LITERATURE 

The  word  "apocalypse"  means  "revealed."  The  name 
was  not  used  by  the  writers  of  the  apocalyptic  literature, 
but  is  the  invention  of  a  later  age. 

Apocalypse  grew  out  of  prophecy.  In  a  sense,  prophecy 
ceased  before  the  Maccabean  period.  There  came  a  time 
when  no  one  ventured  to  give  a  message  to  the  people  and 
preface  it  with  "Thus  saith  Jehovah."  In  making  God 
great,  Hebrew  thought  had  put  him  so  far  from  man  that 
they  could  no  longer  think  of  him  as  moving  upon  human 
minds  in  the  actual  present;  and  so  the  very  success  of 
prophecy  had  caused  its  downfall.  There  is  a  story  in 
Maccabees,  almost  pathetic  in  its  sense  of  the  aloofness  of 
Israel  from  God.  After  the  cleansing  of  the  temple,  the 
question  arose  of  what  should  be  done  with  the  stones  of 
the  old  altar,  formerly  consecrated  to  Jehovah  but  latterly 
defiled  with  heathen  offerings.  It  was  decided  to  lay  them 
aside  in  the  temple  court  until  some  prophet  should  arise 
to  tell  them  what  to  do !  But,  though  formal  prophecy 
ceased,  the  religious  feeling  which  had  caused  prophecy 
did  not  cease.  Men  still  believed  that  they  had  a  message 
for  the  people.  They  still  urged  the  nation  to  faith  and 
duty,  still  interpreted  God's  will  for  his  people,  still  inspired 
them  to  courage  and  hope.  These  things  belonged  to  the 
content  of  prophecy,  and  passed  over  into  apocalypse.  The 
man  who  formerly  would  have  been  a  prophet  became  an 
apocalyptist. 

Apocalypse  differs  from  prophecy  in  various  ways :  ( i ) 
Purpose.  Prophecy  urged  reform  in  an  imperfect  nation; 
apocalypse   encouraged   a   discouraged   nation.      (2)    View 

209 


210 


THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 


of  the  present.     Prophecy  was  hopeful  of  present  reform; 
apocalypse  was  pessimistic  as  to  the  present;  the  only  thmg 
to  do  was  to  patiently   wait.      (3)    View   of   the   future. 
Prophecy  expected  God's  purposes  to  work  out  in  the  or- 
dinary processes  of  history;  apocalypse  saw  hope  only  in 
supernatural  interferences.     (4)  View  of  other  nations.    In 
prophecy  the  nations  will  be  brought  to  the  homage  of 
Jehovah;  in  apocalypse  they  will  be  swept  out  of  existence. 
(S)    Emphasis.     In  prophecy  morals  are  emphasized;   in 
apocalypse  the  national  life  is  emphasized.     (6)    Literary 
style      Prophecy  is  straightforward;  apocalypse  is  mystical 
and  symbolic.     Many  of  these  differences  grow  out  of  the 
historical  circumstances  in  which  apocalypse  took  form. 

Apocalypse  was  written  from  about  200  B.  C.  to  perhaps 
200  A    D.,  by  Jews  and  Christians.     The  variety  of  his- 
torical circumstances  was  great,  but  it  was  always  written 
at  some  time  of  discouragement,  of  danger  or  actual  perse- 
cution, when  enemies  were   strong  and  active  and  when 
there  was  special  need  of  courage  and  faith.     Apocalypse 
is  a  trumpet  call  to  be  faithful  in  the  midst  of  seemingly 
hopeless  conditions.     This  historic  condition  accounts  for 
(I)  the  stress  of  emotion  in  the  literature;  (2)  the  bitter 
hatred  of  other  nations;  (3)  the  hopelessness  of  the  present 
and  the  expectation  of  supernatural  help  in  the  future;  (4) 
the  symbolic  style.     It  was  not  safe  to  say  plainly  that  the 
nation   which   governed   them   would   be   overthrown   and 
destroyed.     The  message  must  be  obscured  in  symbol  and 
vision,   which  would  say  nothing  openly,  but   convey   its 
hidden  meaning  to  the  initiated.     Nowhere  in  the  Bible, 
unless  it  be  in  prophecy  and  in  the  letters  of  the  New 
Testament,  is  it  so  necessary  to  understand  the  historical 
background  in  order  to  appreciate  the  literature,  as  it  is  m 
this  strange,  intense,  symbolic  apocalyptic  writing. 

The  main  scheme  of  apocalyptic  ideas  is  found  in  three 
thoughts:  (I)  Present  suffering,  under  the  enemies  of  the 
religion       (2)    Future   conflict.      God   will   combat   these 


APOCALYPTIC  LITERATURE  211 

enemies  and  overthrow  them  in  some  supernatural  disaster 
which  will  crush  all  the  forces  of  wrong.  (3)  Final  triumph. 
God  and  the  right  will  be  victorious,  and  his  servants  will 
be  happy  in  his  kingdom.  Every  apocalypse  contains  at 
least  one  of  these  elements,  and  many  contain  them  all. 
Within  the  range  of  these  ideas  will  always  be  found  the 
interpretation  of  the  literature. 

The  literary  form  is  frequently  that  of  vision.  Present 
and  past  history  is  thrown  into  visions,  which  are  often 
assigned  to  some  ancient  character;  Enoch  or  Ezra  or 
Daniel.  Pictures  of  the  future  are  not  intended  as  definite 
predictions,  but  as  vivid  expressions  of  the  apocalyptic 
ideas. 

As  time  went  on,  a  body  of  apocalyptic  language  and 
figures  grew  up.  These  figures,  coming  from  various 
sources,  are  not  always  harmonious,  and  in  the  latest  books, 
like  Revelation,  are  often  thrown  together  in  a  way  which 
adds  literary  confusion  to  the  other  difficulties  of  the  reader. 
The  growth  of  such  a  special  vocabulary  was  natural.  The 
study  of  any  collection  of  Christian  hymns  will  show  the 
same  use  of  traditional  imagery. 

Like  most  kinds  of  literature,  apocalyptic  had  a  natural 
growth.  Apocalyptic  forms  and  ideas  began  to  appear  in 
prophecy  long  before  they  took  shape  in  a  separate  literature. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  prophetic  passages  which 
form  steps  of  transition  to  apocalypse: 

Ezek  38  and  39.  Israel  is  now  in  exile,  weak  and  despised.  The 
nation  will  be  returned  to  Palestine,  where  God  will  protect  them 
from  all  enemies  by  supernatural  aid,  and  will  bring  them  final 
triumph.  This  passage  is  of  interest  because  its  phrases  and 
figures  were  largely  borrowed  by  later  apocalyptic  writers. 

Hag  2.  6-9,  21  and  22.  Israel  is  still  weak  and  discouraged. 
Other  nations  are  stronger,  but  God  will  change  that  by  super- 
natural power.  He  will  bring  the  glory  of  the  nations  to  Jerusalem, 
and  Israel  will  be  a  great  empire. 

Joel  2.  28  to  3.  21.  God  will  yet  reveal  himself  in  messages  to 
his   people   and   in    signs   in   the   heavens.     He    will    challenge   the 


212  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

nations  to  battle,  overthrow  them  by  his  power,  and  bless  Israel 
with  a  permanent  prosperity.  This  passage  furnishes  many  figures 
which  became   familiar   in  later  apocalypes. 

Other  passages  which  contain  apocalyptic  ideas  are  Ezek  40-48, 
Zech  1-6,  and  14,  Isa  24  to  27.  All  these  belong  to  the  exile  or 
later,  and  are  the  product  of  historical  conditions  from  which  grew 
true  apocalypse. 


I 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

DANIEL 

The  best  of  the  Jewish  apocalypses,  and  one  of  the 
earUest,  is  the  book  of  Daniel.  It  came  from  the  darkest 
period  of  Jewish  history.  From  i68  to  164  the  little  state 
of  Judah  was  controlled  by  Syria,  one  of  the  empires  which 
had  resulted  from  the  division  of  the  Greek  empire  after 
the  death  of  Alexander.  The  Syrian  king  during  these 
years  was  Antiochus  IV,  called  Antiochus  Epiphanes ;  a 
man  keen,  clever,  unscrupulous,  but  half  crazed  with  power 
— an  Eastern  Nero.  He  tried  unsuccessfully  to  conquer 
Egypt,  and  his  disappointment  added  bitterness  to  his  feeling 
toward  any  who  refused  his  demands.  His  empire  was 
made  of  the  remnants  of  many  ancient  Oriental  races,  and 
he  wished  to  unify  it.  He  tried  to  do  this  by  unifying  the 
religion,  putting  down  all  the  old  native  faiths,  of  which 
his  empire  held  many,  and  substituting  the  Greek  religion. 
Some  of  the  Jews  in  Judah  refused  to  submit.  He  sent  an 
army  to  Jerusalem  who  massacred  many  of  the  people  on 
the  Sabbath,  when  the  law  did  not  allow  them  to  defend 
themselves.  If  copies  of  the  law  were  found,  they  were 
defiled  or  destroyed.  Swine  were  sacrificed  on  the  great 
altar  of  the  temple,  and  the  public  worship  of  Jehovah 
ceased.  A  detachment  of  the  army  was  sent  about  to  the 
towns,  and  the  people  were  compelled  to  sacrifice  to  the 
Greek  gods  upon  the  altars  which  were  set  up.  The  worship 
of  Jehovah  seemed  doomed  to  extinction  in  blood.  Then 
began  the  Maccabean  war.  An  old  priest,  Mattathias, 
refused  to  sacrifice  when  an  altar  was  set  up  in  his  town 
of  Modin,  struck  down  a  Jew  who  proposed  to  offer  the 

213 


214  THE   BIBLE  AS   LITERATURE 

required  sacrifice  and  the  Syrian  captain  who  ordered  it, 
and  fled  with  his  five  sons  to  the  wilderness  of  Judah,  Here 
he  died  during  the  next  year,  but  his  oldest  son,  Judas, 
who  came  to  be  called  the  Hammer  (]\Iaccab),  took  the 
leadership  of  the  little  band.  He  proved  to  be  a  military 
genius,  and  the  war  continued,  with  noble  heroism  and 
devotion,  until  at  last  the  Jews  won  their  national  freedom. 
The  books  of  Maccabees  tell  the  story  of  splendid  patriotism. 

From  the  period  which  produced  the  beginning  of  the 
Maccabean  war  came  the  book  of  Daniel.  The  object  of 
tlie  book  is  to  encourage  the  people  to  hold  fast  their  reli- 
gion in  the  midst  of  the  persecutions  to  which  they  were 
subject.  When  read  in  the  light  of  its  origin  it  is  one  of 
the  most  inspiring  of  the  Old  Testament  books.  Considered 
apart  from  its  origin,  it  is  a  hopeless  tangle  of  obscure 
symbolism  and  historical  incongruities. 

Daniel  is  divided  into  two  sections:  stories  about  Daniel 
and  his  friends,  i  to  6,  and  visions  of  Daniel,  7  to  12.  Each 
of  the  sections  has  the  same  general  purpose  of  encourage- 
ment, but  reaches  its  end  by  dififerent  means.  Chapter  2, 
however,  contains  an  apocalyptic  vision  embedded  in  the 
story. 

Each  of  the  six  stories  presents  one  of  two  elements  of 
encouragement ;  either.  Stand  fast  by  God  and  he  will  stand 
fast  by  you,  or,  God  is  more  powerful  than  the  great  kings 
of  the  earth.  Notice  in  reading  them  which  of  the  stories 
present  each  of  these  ideas.  The  details  of  the  stories  fit 
into  the  Maccabean  times.  In  the  tales  Daniel  and  his 
friends  are  tempted  to  eat  unlawful  food,  to  sacrifice  to 
the  heathen  gods,  to  cease  their  open  worship  of  Jehovah — 
all  things  which  the  books  of  Maccabees  show  to  have  been 
actual  temptations  of  that  period.  The  picture  of  the  kings 
in  these  stories  is  that  of  Antiochus,  not  that  of  the  historic 
kings  whose  names  appear  in  the  stories.  Darius,  the 
devout  worshiper  of  the  god  Ahura  Mazda,  would  have  been 
as  averse  as  Daniel  to  the  idea  of  worshiping  a  man,  but 


DANIEL  215 

such  arrogant  impiety  well  fits  the  conception  which  the 
Jews  had  of  Antiochus.  The  impressive  vividness  with 
which  the  stories  are  told,  the  threat  of  death  for  faithful- 
ness to  the  national  religion,  the  heroic  devotion  of  Daniel 
and  his  friends,  reflect  Maccabean  conditions.  It  is  little 
wonder  that  this  impressive  book,  although  written  after 
most  of  the  Hebrew  canon  was  formed,  found  its  way  into 
the  list  of  sacred  books. 

The  origin  of  the  stories  presents  a  problem  at  present 
impossible  to  solve.  In  a  passage  dating  from  before  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem  in  586,  Ezekiel  mentions  Daniel  along 
with  Noah  and  Job  (14.  14).  Evidently,  the  name  stood 
before  the  exile  for  a  traditional  wise  man,  and  a  cycle  of 
stories  gathered  about  it.  The  story  of  the  three  friends 
and  the  fiery  furnace  must  have  come  from  some  other 
cycle,  otherwise  it  is  difficult  to  explain  why  Daniel  does 
not  appear  in  it.  The  stories  are  not  historically  accurate, 
(i)  Chaldean  is  used,  not  for  Babylonian,  but  in  the  later 
sense  of  magician.  (2)  Cyrus,  not  Darius,  took  Babylon 
(5.  31),  and  Darius  followed  Cyrus,  rather  than  preceded 
him.  During  the  reign  of  Darius  there  was  a  revolt,  and 
the  city  was  retaken  by  Darius,  which  probably  accounts 
for  the  author's  confusion  of  events.  (3)  Belshazzar  was 
not  a  king  of  Babylon,  but  he  was  the  son  of  the  last  king, 
Nabonidus,  All  of  these  inaccuracies,  however,  are  of  no 
real  importance.  It  would  be  most  absurd  to  demand  that 
this  writer,  living  in  Jerusalem  four  hundred  years  after 
the  exile  and  writing  under  the  stress  of  the  persecutions  of 
Antiochus,  should  deal  with  ancient  history  in  the  spirit  of 
a  modern  scholar.  It  would  be  very  surprising  if  he  were 
wholly  accurate.  The  book  is  not  less  valuable  because  it 
is  not  perfect  history.  We  read  it,  not  for  the  history  of 
the  exile,  but  for  the  magnificent  heroism  of  the  stories. 

The  visions  of  Daniel  are  characteristic  apocalyptic 
visions.  They  are  symbolic  expressions  of  the  general 
apocalyptic  ideas  of  present  suffering,  future  conflict,  final 


2i6  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

victory.  As  is  usually  the  case  with  symbolic  art,  they 
may  easily  be  so  treated  as  to  appear  grotesque.  If  put  in 
the  form  of  pictures  they  present  a  strange  congeries  of 
figures,  whose  origin  is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  the  com- 
posite shapes  of  Babylonian  mythology.  Each  vision  finds 
its  explanation  in  the  history  of  the  Maccabean  time,  as  is 
seen  from  the  fact  that  the  most  space  in  the  vision  is 
devoted  to  this  period. 

The  first  vision  lies  in  one  of  the  stories,  2.  31-45.  It 
surveys  the  rulers  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  beginning  with  the 
Babylonian  empire.  The  other  three  empires  must  be, 
judging  from  other  parts  of  the  book,  the  Median  (which 
this  writer  supposes  to  precede  the  Persian),  the  Persian, 
and  the  Greek,  in  which  he  includes  the  Syrian,  as  having 
a  Greek  origin.  In  the  days  of  the  last  kingdom  will  come, 
without  human  aid,  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  is  the  sim- 
plest of  the  visions.  Its  purpose  is  clear — to  encourage 
the  Jews  by  the  thought  that  the  kingdom  which  is  perse- 
cuting them  is  weak ;  they  need  not  fear  it,  however  strong 
it  seems,  for  in  due  time  God  will  overthrow  it. 

Chapter  7  goes  over  the  same  ground  as  ch.  2,  but  differs 
in  emphasizing  more  the  suffering  of  the  people  and  the 
overthrow  of  the  enemy.  The  vision  is  explained  at  the 
end,  so  that  no  reader  need  mistake  its  meaning.  Notice 
that  while  the  kingdoms  are  named,  the  meaning  of  the 
"little  horn,"  plainly  Antiochus,  is  left  to  be  inferred.  Notice 
the  Oriental  conception  of  the  conquest  of  Alexander  as 
a  ruthless  destruction  of  older  civilizations,  the  satisfaction 
with  which  the  author  dwells  on  the  divine  overthrow  of 
Antiochus,  and  the  hope  for  a  glorious  kingdom  of  Israel 
afterward.  In  v.  25  we  have  the  first  suggestion  of  the 
space  of  time  before  this  will  take  place.  From  the  date 
when  active  persecution  begins  till  the  end  will  be  a  time, 
two  times  (the  word  is  probably  dual),  and  a  half  a  time; 
that  is,  three  and  a  half  years. 

Chapter  8  goes  over  the  same  ground  again.     It  begins, 


DANIEL  217 

not  with  Babylon,  like  the  others,  but  with  the  Medo- 
Persian  empire,  as  the  author  explains  at  the  end  of  the 
chapter.  Notice  here  also  the  conception  of  Greece  as  a 
destructive  power.  Here,  again,  the  "little  horn"  appears, 
and  again  it  is  upon  Antiochus,  which  it  represents,  that 
the  writer's  interest  centers ;  but  only  to  exult  in  the  hope 
of  his  overthrow  by  the  power  of  God.  There  is  plain 
reference  to  the  desecration  of  the  temple  which  stopped 
the  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  and  again  the  time  of 
the  end  is  given  as  about  three  years  and  a  half  from  that 
desecration. 

Chapter  9  gives  the  explanation  of  this  period  of  time. 
The  author  finds  in  the  book  of  Jeremiah  the  promise  of 
prosperity  for  Israel  after  seventy  years,  but  seventy  years 
have  long  passed,  and  prosperity  has  not  come  yet.  In 
this  writer's  day  prophecy  had  already  become  confounded 
with  prediction,  and  he  reasons  that  this  prediction  must  be 
fulfilled,  therefore  it  cannot  mean  seventy  years ;  it  may 
mean  seventy  weeks  of  years.  Calculating  this  from  the 
date  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy  just  before  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem in  586,  he  reaches  for  the  close  of  the  period,  a  date 
of  164  B.  C.  He  divides  the  period  into  sections,  one  of 
which  (v.  26)  seems  to  close  with  the  murder  of  the 
"anointed"  high-priest  Onias  II  in  171  B.  C.  But  the 
actual  time  is  not  four  hundred  and  ninety  years.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  traditional  error  in  reckoning  time 
from  one  era  to  another,  which  this  writer  shares  with 
Josephus  and  other  Jewish  writers. 

In  this  calculation  one  can  see  the  basis  of  the  author's 
feeling  that  he  has  a  message  for  his  people.  He  finds 
himself  almost  at  the  end  of  the  age.  The  last  struggle  is 
already  under  way.  Only  a  few  more  years,  and  the  final 
triumph  will  come.  If  Israel  will  only  hold  firm  a  little 
longer,  God  will  bring  the  period  to  a  close  with  a  trium- 
phant conquest. 

Chapters  10,  11,  and  12  form  a  single  section.    Beginning 


2i8  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

with  vision,  it  passes  into  a  long  description  of  history, 
told  for  the  most  part  without  figure,  largely  devoted  to 
the  wars  between  the  kingdoms  of  Syria  (the  north)  and 
Egypt  (the  south).  Vv.  21-45  deal  with  Antiochus.  Note 
that,  while  other  names  are  mentioned  in  the  book,  that  of 
Antiochus  is  always  hidden  in  symbol.  Note,  at  the  end, 
the  ideal  picture  of  the  death  of  Antiochus,  in  the  land  of 
Palestine,  where  he  had  done  so  much  evil.  Of  course, 
since  this  is  symbolism  and  not  prediction,  that  Antiochus 
did  not  die  there  does  not  affect  the  value  of  the  book. 
Chapter  12  is  the  picture  of  the  triumphant  kingdom  of 
God  at  the  end  of  the  age,  with  the  author's  closing  words. 
Here  for  the  first  time  in  the  Old  Testament,  we  find  a 
clearly  expressed  hope  of  the  future  life.  The  writer  has 
urged  his  readers  to  stand  firm  for  their  religion ;  but  in 
many  cases  that  meant  death.  Will  God  give  no  reward  to 
those  who  have  suffered  and  died  for  him?  No  reward 
can  come  in  this  life.  God  must  bring  them  back  to  earth 
for  that;  and  he  will  also  bring  back  those  who  have  not 
received  the  rewards  of  their  evil  deeds ;  not  all  men,  but 
only  those  to  whom  this  life  has  not  brought  justice.  The 
problem  of  God's  justice,  which  was  argued  in  Job  and 
often  touched  upon  elsewhere,  has  in  Daniel  its  final  Hebrew 
answer  in  the  hope  of  a  future  life.  One  need  not  say  how 
far  this  is  from  the  Greek  idea  of  a  natural  immortality  of 
the  soul.  The  Hebrew  conception  was  not  philosophical, 
but  ethical.  Its  purpose  was  to  form  a  basis  for  a  belief  in 
God's  justice  to  men. 

Many  other  elements  of  Hebrew  thought  of  the  later 
period  appear  in  Daniel :  the  doctrine  of  angels,  both  as 
guardian  spirits  and  as  messengers  of  God;  the  conception 
of  God  as  so  far  away  that  he  does  not  speak  directly  to 
man;  the  hope  of  a  Messianic  time.  The  book  is  valuable 
for  the  history  of  Hebrew  thought,  but  its  religious  value 
lies  in  its  plea  for  courage  and  faith  in  God.  Right  will 
finall}-  triumph  and  wrong  be  overthrown.     The  man  who 


DANIEL  219 

believes  this  will  "stand  in  his  lot  till  the  end  of  his  days," 
patiently  doing  his  duty  at  any  cost  to  himself.  That  is  the 
heroism  of  faith  which  this  book  presents.  Daniel  is  a 
trumpet  call  to  courage  in  the  moral  battle  of  life.  It  sounds 
a  note  to  which  the  higher  spirits  of  humanity  have  always 
responded,  and  which  appeals  as  strongly  in  the  life  of  the 
present  day  as  it  did  in  the  Maccabean  period. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

T.     Read  i  Mac  i  and  2 ;  2  Mac  5-7,  noting  the  persecutions  and 
the  heroic  spirit. 

2.  Read  the  stories  of  Dan  i  to  6,  to  find  the  author's  teaching  in 

each. 

3.  How   do   the   stories   of   Daniel   compare   with   the    Maccabean 

stories   noted   in    i    above? 

4.  What  are  the  meanings  of  the  several  symbols  in  the  visions 

of  2.  31-45,  7  and  8?     State  in  plain  terms  the  meaning  of 
each  vision  as  a  whole. 

5.  What  is  the  character  of  Antiochus  as  presented  in  7.  8,  20-26; 

8.  9-12;  II.  21-45?     What  is  the  feeling  of  the  writer  toward 
him? 

6.  What  is  the  author's  expectation  of  the  future  in  ch.  12?     His 

theory  of  the  resurrection? 

7.  What  is  your  estimate  of  the  stories  of  Daniel  from  a  literary 

point  of  view? 


PART   II 
THE   NEW  TESTAMENT 


DAMASCUS/ 


6         lu        15        20   -Jai" 
KENT  ANb  MADSEN 

HISTORICAL  MAPS 

SHEET  V 


Cofiyr.ght  JWXl  and  1^)2.  ttj  OhsrlM  Fonur  Kaai- 

PALESTINE  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS.  4  B.  C— 30  A.  D. 

(LNCI.T1DINO  XHB  PERIOD  OF  HEROD  40-4  B.  cO 


INTRODUCTION 
NEW   TESTAMENT   TIMES 

The  Jewish  people  of  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ  lived  in 
many  other  places  than  Palestine.  They  were  to  be  found 
in  large  numbers  in  Egypt,  Babylonia,  Persia,  Northern 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor,  Italy,  and  other  places.  This  world- 
wide dispersion  began  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Nebuchad- 
rezzar the  Chaldean  and  probably  before  that  time.  Pales- 
tine was  too  small  a  country  and  too  poor  a  land  economically 
to  support  the  vigorous  race.  In  other  countries  Jews  could 
find  a  better  living,  more  stable  politics,  and  a  wider  field 
for  their  abilities.  While  the  outside  Jews  held  the  home- 
land in  sentimental  esteem,  they  realized  the  impossibility 
of  making  it  their  home.  They  were  a  cosmopolitan,  versa- 
tile people  but  loyal  in  essentials  to  the  ideals  of  their  race 
and  religion.  They  varied,  of  course,  as  to  station  and 
character,  as  do  all  racial  groups,  but  many  of  them  were 
conspicuously  superior  religiously  and  ethically  to  the  people 
among  whom  they  lived.  Doubtless  the  stricter  Jews  of 
Palestine,  especially  in  Jerusalem,  felt  superior  to  their  more 
broadly  educated  brethren  in  foreign  lands. 

Even  in  Palestine  there  was  a  distinction  to  be  made 
between  Jews  who  were  more  inclined  to  be  hospitable  to 
the  Greek  culture  and  fashions  and  those  who  were  strict 
in  their  loyalty  to  the  older  Judaism.  This  division  of 
sympathy  and  finally  of  party  was  more  and  more  apparent 
after  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  throughout 
the  administration  of  his  successors.  Beginning  as  a  cul- 
tural struggle,  it  soon  took  on  a  political  aspect,  reached 
its  crisis  in  the  Maccabean  Age,  grew  weaker  at  first  under 

223 


224  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Roman  influence,  but  was  revived  again,  about  the  time  of 
Jesus.  This  patriotic  movement  was  crushed  by  the  Romans 
in  the  days  of  Titus  (70  A.  D.)  and  utterly  killed  at  the 
time  of  Hadrian  (122  A.  D.).  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
struggle  had  quite  changed  its  nature  in  the  course  of  this 
long  history.  The  struggle  which  was  at  first  between  the  old 
Jewish  and  the  new  Grecian  civilization  became  in  the  Mac- 
cabean  Age  through  the  folly  of  Antiochus  IV  and  by  Jewish 
patriotism  almost  wholly  political  in  character.  But  there 
was  a  party  in  Palestine  which  kept  up  the  quieter  struggle 
on  a  purely  cultural  or  religious  plane.  These  were  at  last 
overwhelmed  by  the  fanatical  politicians  of  their  own  people. 

That  stricter  party  of  Jews  who  resisted  the  invasions 
of  the  foreign,  Hellenistic  ideas  were  early  known  as  the 
Hasidim  (Chasidim),  that  is,  the  pious,  or  the  puritans. 
They,  in  turn,  probably  grew  out  of  the  earnest  students 
and  copyists  (scribes)  of  the  old  Scriptures.  These  Hasidim 
and  their  followers  who  cared  most  for  the  old  writings 
and  ways,  who  were  the  devotees  of  the  law,  were  naturally 
the  ones  to  resist  innovations.  These  same  pious  ones  had 
received  the  brunt  of  the  persecutions  by  Antiochus  IV 
and  were  the  supporters  of  the  Maccabean  uprising.  But 
they  wavered  and  fell  away  from  the  Maccabeans  just  in 
the  degree  in  which  the  ambitions  of  that  family  became 
worldly  and  political.  It  was  probably  this  religious  party 
of  the  Hasidim  that  was  the  forerunner  of  the  party  known 
in  later  times  as  the  Pharisees. 

Out  of  the  party  of  the  Maccabeans,  or,  as  they  came  to 
be  called,  the  Asmoneans  (Hasmoneans),  developed  the 
distinctly  political  party  of  the  priestly  and  royalist  Zado- 
kites  who  are  known  to  us  as  Sadducees.  They  were  the 
dominant  influence  through  most  of  the  Asmonean  period. 
But  the  more  religious  party  of  the  Pharisees  were  the 
natural  teachers  of  the  common  people  and  came  into 
greater  and  greater  influence  among  them.  The  opposition 
of  these  two  groups  of  Jews  in  Palestine  became  acute  in 


NEW  TESTAMENT  TIMES  225 

their  early  dealings  with  each  other  and  later  settled  into 
a  chronic  aversion. 

In  actual  religions  thought  these  two  parties  had  the 
common  ground  of  the  older  Judaism,  but  very  naturally 
the  party  that  specialized  in  religious  things  progressed  in 
religious  ideas  in  spite  of  a  careful  conservatism.  The 
Sadducees  had  other  objects  than  the  pursuit  of  religion. 
Politics  was  their  main  interest  and  their  attitude  toward 
religion  must  necessarily  have  become  more  and  more  nega- 
tive because  they  did  not  keep  up  with  its  progress.  The 
Pharisees,  on  the  other  hand,  threw  themselves  heartily 
into  the  cultivation  of  religion,  and  in  spite  of  their  con- 
servatism were  cognizant  of  the  constantly  emerging  new 
demands  of  the  religious  consciousness.  The  fuller  doc- 
trine of  the  future  life  which  had  been  forming  in  the 
Palestinian  thought  in  response  to  suffering,  physical  and 
mental,  is  a  case  in  point.  In  ages  of  severe  trial  when  the 
apocalyptic  writings  were  useful  to  sustain  the  courage  of 
the  devout  Jews  there  had  come  the  question  about  the  fate 
of  those  Jews  who  were  killed.  The  belief  grew  that  they 
would  be  raised  to  life  and  share  in  the  Messiah's  triumph. 
The  religious  indifference  of  the  Sadducees  kept  them  aloof 
from  the  movement  of  thought  that  developed  this  teaching 
of  a  resurrection,  while  the  Pharisees  received  and  held  the 
doctrine. 

The  time  came  during  the  Roman  period  when  even  the 
political  power  favored  the  party  of  the  Pharisees.  They 
had  already  secured  the  allegiance  of  the  majority  of  the 
common  folk.  Thus  the  Sadducees,  who  had  once  been  in 
the  strong  majority  in  the  national  Jewish  Council  of 
Palestine,  who  had  been  in  favor  with  rulers,  masses,  and 
temple  officials,  dwindled  at  last  to  an  aristocratic  opposition 
party. 

One  of  the  most  influential  institutions  which  were  used 
by  the  Pharisees  for  religious  instruction  was  the  synagogue. 
Many    synagogues    were    scattered    through    the    country. 


226  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

There  were  several  hundred  of  them  in  Jerusalem  in  New 
Testament  times.  With  the  Sadducees  in  control  of  the 
temple  and  the  Pharisees  controlling  the  synagogues,  the 
result  must  eventually  favor  the  Pharisees. 

Judas  the  Maccabean  was  the  most  heroic  figure  in  the 
Jewish  war  against  the  Syrians.  He  had  aroused  his  nation 
and  had  nearly  won  independence  for  it  when  he  died  in 
battle  in  i6i  B.  C.  Members  of  his  family  continued  to 
rule  in  Jerusalem  for  one  hundred  years  after  that  date  until 
the  time  of  Pompey  the  Roman,  when  the  Idumean  (Edom- 
ite)  family  of  the  Plerods  succeeded  to  authority  in  Palestine. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  many  references  in  the  New 
Testament  to  parties  and  problems  are  explainable  from 
the  history  of  the  preceding  period. 

During  those  same  critical  times  for  the  political  interests 
of  the  Jewish  people  many  Jewish  writings  were  published 
which  help  us  to  trace  the  development  of  the  religious 
and  ethical  thought  of  the  race  within  which  the  early 
Christians  arose. 

Before  the  early  church  had  the  New  Testament  writings, 
or,  at  least,  before  any  church  had  any  considerable  number 
of  them,  such  of  the  Christians  as  were  disposed  to  read 
depended  for  religious  purposes  partly  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  partly  on  those  apocalyptic  and  pseudepigraphical 
writings  which  were  so  highly  favored  in  that  age.  Outside 
of  the  influence  of  the  Old  Testament  writings  upon  the 
New  Testament  literature  the  book  of  Enoch  was  perhaps 
the  most  influential  Jewish  writing. 


CHAPTER    I 

THE    NEW   TESTAMENT    LITERATURE 

When  we  open  to  the  New  Testament,  or  Greek  portion 
of  our  Bible,  we  find  that  the  longest  books  come  early  in 
the  collection.  The  first  five  books  together  amount  to 
considerably  more  than  half  of  the  New  Testament.  These 
five  books  purport  to  be  of  an  historical  character  and  con- 
tain, as  in  the  opening  five  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  origins 
and  development  of  the  people  specially  interested.  We 
might  call  ]\Iatthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John  and  Acts  the  Penta- 
teuch of  the  New  Testament.  There  are  other  analogies 
to  the  contents  of  the  Old  Testament,  for  the  epistles  seem 
comparable  with  the  prophets,  and  Revelation  is  the  counter- 
part of  Daniel.  There  is  also  a  New  Testament  Apocrypha 
and  a  succeeding  literature  not  classified  with  the  contents 
of  the  canon. 

If  we  were  to  follow  a  chronological  order,  we  should 
need  to  begin  with  the  epistles  of  Paul.  But  by  bearing 
these  facts  of  date  in  mind  we  may  take  up  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament  more  nearly  in  the  order  in  which  they 
now  appear.  The  development  of  the  New  Testament  took 
a  much  shorter  time  than  that  of  the  Old.  One  century  is 
ample  allowance  for  the  writing  of  every  book  we  have  and 
for  any  books  by  Christians  which  may  have  preceded  them 
as  sources. 

The  New  Testament  has  to  do  with  the  life  and  teachings 

of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  religious  fellowship  of  his  followers. 

There  are  certain  noteworthy  connections  and  distinctions 

among  the  first  five  books.     In  chronological  order  they 

seem  to  stand  thus : 

Mark, 

Matthew, 

Luke  and  Acts, 

John. 

227 


2  28  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

The  Gospel  of  John  might  be  looked  upon  as  the  Deu- 
teronomic  book  in  its  relation  to  the  others.  It  is  the  latest 
of  the  set  and  falls  quite  in  a  class  by  itself  when  we  study 
characteristics  and  ideas. 

The  scholar  will  seek  to  view  these  different  writings  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  the  light  in  which  they  appeared  to 
their  authors.  He  will  ask  where  and  when  each  book  arose, 
what  was  its  purpose,  and  what  were  its  relations  to  con- 
temporaneous thought. 

Jesus  wrote  nothing  of  what  we  have  and  very  few  of  his 
immediate  followers  are  credited  with  authorship.  The 
greater  activity  of  the  early  Christian  leaders  was  in  mis- 
sionary enterprise  and  in  the  oral  message.  The  epistles  of 
Paul  would  probably  never  have  been  written  if  he  could 
have  gone  in  person  to  the  places  addressed. 

The  Gospels 

In  the  New  Testament  "gospel"  means  the  good  news 
concerning  God  and  man  which  Jesus  brought  and  which  his 
disciples  helped  to  si)read.  Early  apostles  and  disciples  went 
in  all  directions  reporting  the  things  which  Jesus  had  said 
and  done  and  discussing  also  the  significance  of  these  mat- 
ters. Thus  they  carried  not  only  Jesus's  own  message  but 
a  message  about  him.  Believing  that  he  was  risen  from 
the  dead  and  was  to  return  as  their  Messiah,  they  pene- 
trated many  countries  on  missionary  tours  or  carried 
the  teaching  as  they  went  on  business.  Absorbed  by  a  cause 
which  they  believed  of  very  great  importance  to  mankind, 
they  were  brave  and  insistent  in  recommending  it.  These 
men  and  women  of  varying  personal  culture  became  success- 
ful religious  teachers  first  among  their  own  people  and,  as 
occasion  led,  to  other  peoples.  They  had  no  need  of  writ- 
ings, since  they  themselves  were  the  authorities  and  sources. 
They  had  no  impulse  to  write,  since  speaking  was  more 
congenial,  as,  indeed,  it  had  been  with  their  master.    Jesus 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  LITERATURE      229 

left  no  written  message  but  depended  on  the  spiritual  impres- 
sion of  his  life  upon  lives. 

Later  on,  however,  for  one  reason  or  another,  writings 
appeared.  Among  the  reasons  must  have  been  the  need 
and  desire  of  preserving  accounts  of  the  Saviour  and  his 
message.  If  diverse  accounts  sprang  up,  there  would  be  a 
desire  to  have  a  correct  record.  Christians  near  and  at  a 
distance  would  seek  earnestly  for  authentic  descriptions  of 
the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  from  those  best  qualified  to 
give  them. 

Perhaps  the  words  of  Jesus  would  be  put  in  writing  first, 
or  it  may  have  been  that  narratives  containing  both  words 
and  deeds  would  arise  very  early.  If  this  was  the  case,  then 
many  stories,  some  of  them  now  lost,  would  be  in  circulation 
in  the  early  days  in  written  form.  Luke  i.  i  says,  "Many 
have  taken  in  hand  to  draw  up  a  narrative  concerning 
those  matters  which  have  been  fulfilled  among  us."  The 
German  scholar  Harnack  has  listed  more  than  a  dozen 
Gospels  besides  the  four  in  our  Bible.  Probably  none  of 
these  ever  had  the  general  favor  of  Christians  equally  with 
any  one  of  those  we  now  possess. 

It  will  be  easily  seen  that  the  contents  of  any  Gospel 
may  be  classified  in  two  literary  groups,  the  teaching  group 
and  the  narrative  group.  The  proverbs,  parables,  aphorisms, 
and  conversations  of  Jesus  belong  to  the  first  group,  while 
the  accounts  of  travels,  cures,  and  the  general  setting  of  his 
words  in  place  and  time  belong  to  the  second  or  narrative 
group.  There  are  many  passages,  some  of  them  long  ones, 
where  the  contents  are  almost  purely  teaching.  There  are 
other  passages  which  contain  no  teaching  at  all  but  provide 
pictures  of  occasions  and  deeds. 

The  literary  study  of  the  Gospels  begins  with  the  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  clear  distinction  between 
the  first  three,  or  the  synoptic,  Gospels  and  the  fourth,  or 
Johannine  Gospel. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  SYNOPTIC  PROBLEM 

The  first  three  Gospels  stand  in  a  class  by  themselves  as 
being  like  each  other  and  dissimilar  from  the  fourth.  This 
is  seen  in  the  very  similar  outline  of  the  first  three  books. 
The  similarity  arises  from  the  fact  that  Mark's  outline  has 
been  used  by  the  writers  of  Matthew  and  Luke  who  have 
included  also  all  but  a  very  few  paragraphs  of  Mark's 
contents. 

1.  Similar  Contents.  Compared  with  a  full  record  of 
what  Jesus  did  and  said,  it  must  seem  as  if  the  records  in 
the  synoptic  Gospels  are  very  scanty.  Instead  of  each 
Gospel  going  its  separate  way  and  treating  of  a  portion  of 
the  complete  life,  the  three  Gospels  keep  for  the  most  part 
to  the  same  material.  As  others  have  pointed  out,  if  Luke 
be  reckoned  as  containing  210  topics,  Matthew  180,  and 
Mark  109,  we  may  observe  that  all  but  three  of  Mark's 
topics  are  found  in  the  other  two  Gospels.  Matthew  has 
100  of  Mark's  109,  and  Luke  has  90  of  them.  Matthew 
and  Luke  are  not  like  each  other  until  they  reach  that  point 
where  they  begin  to  use  Mark's  outline  and  contents.  They 
are  most  closely  parallel  to  each  other  as  long  as  the  material 
in  Mark  lasts.  When  that  ceases  the  remaining  parts  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  are  again  unlike  each  other.  Matthew 
and  Luke  have  their  own  way  of  utilizing  Mark's  materials, 
but  that  Mark  is  their  source  becomes  clear  from  com- 
parison. 

2.  Similar  Order.  It  has  been  noted,  as  showing  the  re- 
markable parallelism  in  the  one  hundred  and  six  topics  of 
Mark's  that  agree  with  ]\Iatthew  and  Luke,  that  if  we  divide 

230 


THE  SYNOPTIC  PROBLEM  231 

Mark's  Gospel  into  three  parts,  namely,  (a)  i  to  3.  6, 
(b)  3.  7  to  6.  13,  (c)  6.  14  to  16.  8,  the  relative  order  of  (a) 
agrees  exactly  with  Luke  and  for  the  most  part  with  Mat- 
thew, while  that  of  (&)  agrees  with  either  Matthew  or  with 
Luke,  and  in  parts  with  both  of  them,  and  that  of  (c)  with 
Matthew  exactly,  and  for  the  most  part  with  Luke.  Thus 
where  Mark's  order  is  ignored  by  one  of  the  others,  it  will 
there  be  maintained  by  the  third  one. 

The  main  reason  for  saying  that  Matthew  and  Luke  used 
Mark  rather  than  that  Mark  used  them  is  that  it  is  more 
probable  that  Matthew  and  Luke  used  Mark,  omitting  a  very 
few  topics,  than  that  Mark  had  the  use  of  either  Matthew 
or  Luke,  or  both,  and  chose  to  omit  so  much  while  he  added 
almost  nothing  to  their  information. 

Could  it  possibly  be  said  that  the  very  close  parallelism 
between  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  is  simply  the  result  of 
the  fact  that  they  are  treating  of  the  same  subject  and  would 
very  naturally  drift  into  the  same  modes  of  expressing  it  ? 

3.  Verbal  Similarity.  Such  a  position  as  the  one  sug- 
gested in  the  last  paragraph  seems  impossible  because  the 
selection  of  material  is  so  small,  so  similar,  and  the  words 
and  phrases  so  often  nearly  identical  that  it  looks  certainly 
as  if  the  writers  of  Matthew  and  Luke  had  written  docu- 
ments before  them  as  they  composed.  Moreover,  the  Gos- 
pels being  comparatively  late  compositions,  and  not  in  the 
Aramaic  language  spoken  by  Jesus  or  his  first  reporters,  but 
in  the  Greek  language,  the  similarities  in  diction  and  rhe- 
torical structure  within  a  foreign  language  show  a  use  of 
similar  sources  in  Greek.  Rare  Greek  words  are  found  in 
use  by  all  three  Gospels  in  the  parallel  passages.  If  the 
Gospels  were  in  the  language  spoken  by  Jesus,  the  above 
theory  might  seem  more  plausible.  The  same  objection 
holds  against  a  theory  formerly  common  that  all  three 
Gospels  may  have  simply  written  down  the  current  oral 
tradition  concerning  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus. 

As  to  whether  there  was  one  original  Gospel  from  which 


232  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

all  three  drew.  B.  W.  Bacon  says :  "We  should  not  know 
at  which  to  marvel  most :  ( i )  the  disappearance  of  so  pre- 
cious a  record,  (2)  the  folly  of  our  evangelists  in  omitting, 
each,  some  of  the  choicest  material,  (3)  the  folly  of  the 
church  in  accepting  any  one  of  them  as  a  substitute  for  the 
original  whole." 

4.  Variations.  Why  is  the  question  of  priority  and  the 
subject  of  the  original  sources  of  the  Gospels  so  earnestly 
studied?  For  the  reason  that  the  variations  are  sufficiently 
numerous  to  make  the  discovery  of  the  actual  words  and 
the  order  of  events  in  the  hfe  of  Jesus  difficult.  It  is  neces- 
sary for  the  sake  of  his  teaching  to  know  these  things  as 
accurately  as  possible.  Thus  the  search  for  the  original 
character  of  the  records  becomes  very  important. 

As  to  the  question  whether  there  were  editions  or  forms 
of  our  three  Gospels  earlier  than  those  we  have,  Eusebius, 
a  church  historian  of  the  fourth  century,  quotes  interesting 
passages  from  a  still  earlier  writer  named  Papias,  who 
was  a  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  the  first  half  of  the  second 
century  A.  D.,  and  who  knew  persons  who  were  friends  of 
the  apostles  and  other  disciples  of  Jesus.  Papias  is  the 
earliest  of  several  who  record  that  Matthew  wrote  certain 
things  in  Hebrew.  "Matthew  then  composed  the  Logia  in 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  and  everyone  translated  them  as  he 
was  able."  Thus  it  seems  that  there  was  a  collection  of 
sayings  of  Jesus  called  the  Logia,  written  by  Matthew.  Our 
Matthew  contains  that  kind  of  material,  but  also  more  which 
seems  closely  dependent  on  Mark.  So  it  seems  that  Matthew 
as  we  have  it  is  a  later  work  than  Mark. 

Instead  of  the  Logia,  or  sayings  of  Jesus  written  down  by 
Matthew,  the  common  source  is  often  referred  to  by  writers 
by  the  symbol  Q  (quelle).  Certain  scholars  believe  that 
there  was  an  earlier  form  of  Mark  than  ours  and  refer 
to  it  as  the  Ur-Marcus.  Scholars  vary  as  to  which  was 
earlier,  and  hence  which  may  have  been  used  by  the  other, 
"Q"  or  the  "LIr-Marcus."    That  such  a  use  of  earlier  books 


THE  SYNOPTIC  PROBLEM 


233 


by  our  caononical  Gospels  would  be  in  keeping  with  the 
literary  methods  of  that  day  is  shown  by  the  similar  prac- 
tice in  the  composition  of  Tatian's  Diatessaron.  This  was 
a  book  made  during  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century  by 
combining  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John  into  one  Gospel 
to  be  read  in  the  churches.  This  fourfold  (Diatessaron) 
Gospel  was  a  favorite,  and  at  one  time  in  the  Eastern 
churches  its  use  bade  fair  to  displace  the  separate  Gospels 
of  which  it  was  composed. 

There  have  been  different  theories  seeking  to  account  for 
the  peculiar  literary  relationship  seen  to  exist  between  the 
three  Gospels.  The  most  common  is  some  form  of  w^hat 
is  known  as  the  "Two-Source  Theory,"  which  holds  that 
Matthew's  Logia,  in  a  Greek  form,  or,  to  be  less  definite, 
"Q,"  and  Mark,  substantially  as  we  have  it,  are  the  two 
main  sources  used  by  the  Gospels  Matthew  and  Luke.  It  is 
then  clearly  recognized  that  both  Matthew  and  Luke  must 
have  had  their  independent  sources  for  the  extra  material. 

The  relations  of  the  three  Gospels  may  be  suggested  by 
the  accompanying  diagram. 


Mark 


Matthew 


Luke 


This  device  illustrates  four  points : 

1.  A  comparison  of  Mark  with  Matthew  and  Luke  shows  like- 
nesses which  can  be  explained  only  by  assuming  Mark  to  be  the 
source  of  the  other  two. 

2.  Aside    from    the    material    drawn    from    Mark,    Matthew    and 


234  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Luke  have  other  material   so  much  alike  that  it  must  have  come 
from  some  common  source. 

3.  There  was  probably  more  than  one  source  common  to  Mat- 
thew and  Luke,  so  that,  in  the  diagram,  Q  represents  not  a  single 
source  but  several  sources  of  which  one  very  probably  was  the  Logia 
of  the  apostle  Matthew. 

4.  Aside  from  the  common  source,  Matthew  and  Luke  each  had 
independent  sources  not  used  by  the  other  Gospel. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  is  the  chief  reason  for  classifying  the  first  three  Gospels 

in  one  group? 

2.  How  extensive  is  the  similarity  of  the  three? 

3.  With  the  aid  of  Huck's  Harmony,  or  some  other,  assure  your- 

self of  the  facts  concerning  the  similarities  as  stated  in  the 
text. 

4.  If  the  original  language  of  the  disciples  was  Aramaic,  and  we 

have  verbal  similarities  and  even  identities  in  Greek  Gospels, 
how  does  that  indicate  a  common  literary  origin  for  much  of 
the  material  ? 

5.  Which   of  the   various   kinds   of   similarity   is   to  you   the   most 

conclusive? 

6.  What  would  be   an   oral   theory   of   the   conmion   origin   of   the 

three  Gospels? 

7.  Why  is  an  oral  theory  not  held? 

8.  What  kinds  of  variation  are  there  in  the  three  Gospels? 

9.  In  what  portions  of  Matthew  and  Luke  is  the  greatest  independ- 

ence found? 

10.  Tatian's  Diatessaron  as  a  topic  for  a  short  paper.     (See  Encyc. 

Diet,  and  Hamlyn  Hill's  The  Earliest  Life  of  Christ.) 

11.  State  the  Synoptic  Problem. 

12.  Give  a  theory  that  will  solve  it. 

13.  Compare  Mark  i  with  Matt  3,  4,  8;  Luke  3,  4,  5,  for  likenesses 

and  differences  of  content,  order,  wording.  What  kinds  of 
changes  have  Matthew  and  Luke  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
original  material  in  Mark? 

14.  Compare   Matt  3.   7-12   with   Luke   3.    7-17.     Are   they    from   a 

common  source? 

15.  Are  Matt  2  and  Luke  2  from  a  common  source? 


CHAPTER  III 
MATTHEW 

Matthew  is  much  longer  than  Mark  and  obviously  de- 
pendent upon  it.  More  than  nine  tenths  of  the  subjects  of 
Mark  are  seen  again  in  Matthew.  Sometimes  the  parallels 
are  very  striking,  as  if  one  simply  took  over  an  account  of 
something  from  the  other,  and  at  other  times  the  differences 
show  literary  changes,  expanding,  restating,  and  rearrang- 
ing. 

But  even  though  most  of  Mark  appears  again  in  Matthew, 
that  accounts  for  only  half  of  Matthew.  The  bulk  of  the 
remaining  portion  is  in  the  nature  of  discourses,  parables, 
and  sayings.  This  large  amount  of  sayings  of  Jesus  was 
found  in  the  Logia  which  the  author  of  the  present  Gospel 
used.  That  there  was  such  a  source  we  feel  certain,  because 
it  is  so  closely  parallel  to  similar  material  in  Luke.  And 
that  this  earlier  source  was  the  collection  of  the  sayings 
of  Jesus  by  Matthew  the  apostle,  which  Papias  referred  to 
as  the  Logia,  we  feel  reasonably  sure.  The  present  Gospel 
is  called  Matthew  probably  because  it  is  an  expansion  of 
the  Logia  by  Matthew.  There  is  also  in  Matthew  some 
matter  neither  from  Mark  nor  the  Logia,  and  we  do  not 
know  whence  the  author  secured  it,  but  very  likely  from 
other  books  current  in  his  day. 

The  author  of  our  Matthew  took  Mark  as  a  framework 
and  added,  here  and  there,  the  sayings  of  Jesus  from  the 
Logia.  Then  he  revised  the  result,  so  that  his  book  makes 
a  more  literary  treatment  of  the  subject  than  Mark.  At 
times  he  enlarged  upon  his  original  in  Mark,  but  at  other 
times  he  even  reduced  Mark's  narrative.     A  notable  result 

235 


236  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

of  this  is  that  we  have  in  Matthew  a  book  which  is  nearer 
being  a  hfe  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  in  addition  to  the  active 
career  in  Mark,  Matthew  added  a  genealogy,  an  account 
of  the  birth  and  infancy  and  a  fuller  treatment  of  the  closing 
scenes  of  Jesus's  career  and  also  the  large  amount  of  teach- 
ings. 

In  Mark  there  is  a  little  evidence  of  grouping,  but  in 
Matthew  there  is  so  much  of  it  as  to  make  topical  arrange- 
ment the  notable  method  in  that  Gospel.  Possibly  the  Logia 
was  even  more  topical  in  its  grouping  of  sayings,  and  Mat- 
thew has  rearranged  it  occasionally  to  fit  Mark's  narrative 
outline.  Luke  broke  up  the  topical  arrangement  even  more. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  author  of  the  present  book  of 
Matthew  may  have  imposed  the  topical  form  upon  the  matter 
quoted  from  the  Logia.  The  result,  in  Matthew,  is  a  book 
possessed  of  a  remarkable  unity  of  literary  execution  and 
religious  idea.  We  might  state  the  theme  of  the  book  as 
"The  Messiah  of  the  Spiritual  Realm  Guiding  the  True 
Israel." 

Who  was  the  author  of  this  book?  Not  Matthew,  whose 
book,  the  Logia,  is  used,  for  he  would  not  have  depended 
upon  Mark,  who  was  not  an  apostle,  for  the  story  of  Jesus' 
career,  which  he  himself  could  have  supplied  better.  But 
even  if  unknown  by  name,  the  personality  of  the  writer  stands 
out  clearly  in  the  work.  He  was  a  Jew,  but  one  who  was  con- 
vinced that  the  Jews  had  committed  the  gravest  error  in 
rejecting  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Some  think  that  the  author 
"betrays  the  vocation  of  a  teacher  incidentally  in  the  mne- 
monic and  mathematical  arrangements  of  his  materials."  He 
was  a  true  Hebrew  but  not  a  mere  legalist.  His  sympathies 
were  more  surely  with  the  ethical  sensitiveness  of  the  old 
prophets.  We  gather  these  indications  of  the  author's  point 
of  view  from  his  selections  and  emphasis  of  the  words  and 
deeds  of  Jesus.  The  name  "Matthew"  was  given  to  this 
work  because  of  its  dependence  upon  the  Logia  of  the 
apostle. 


MATTHEW  237 

What  purpose  did  the  author  of  Matthew  have  in  the 
publication  of  this  large  work  which  draws  upon  Mark,  the 
Logia,  and  certain  other  sources,  giving  a  more  extended 
treatment  of  the  entire  life?  He  sought  to  give  in  dignified, 
beautiful  treatment  a  portrait  of  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  He  sought  to  show  his  fellow  Jews  that  Jesus  was 
the  true  Hebrew  Messiah,  and  that  he  was  far  more  im- 
portant than  all  the  institutions  of  the  Jews.  He  declared 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Saviour  of  the  world-wide  Israel, 
no  longer  restricting  that  term  to  the  Jewish  race. 

The  outline  of  Matthew  in  simplest  form  is: 

Introduction,  i  to  4.  11. 
Galilsean  Ministry,  4.   11  to  18.  35. 
Judsean  Ministry,  19.  i  to  25. 
The  Passion,  26.  i  to  28.  20. 

A  comparison  of  Matthew  and  Mark  will  show  that 
Mark's  outline  is  dominant  wherever  the  two  Gospels  are 
parallel.  The  additions  of  Matthew  are  at  the  beginning  and 
ending  of  Mark's  material  and  in  the  large  insertions  of 
teaching.  The  additions  are  found  in  chs.  i  and  2,  the 
genealogy  and  infancy,  and  in  chs.  2^]  and  28.  There  are 
added  also  the  passages  8.  5-22 ;  14.  28-31 ;  17.  24-27.  (Mark 
7.  31-37;  8.  22-26  are  omitted  from  both  Matthew  and 
Luke.)  Perhaps  the  most  valuable  additions  made  by  our 
Matthew,  however,  are  the  groups  of  Jesus's  teachings. 
These  discourses  of  Jesus  are  inserted  in  the  narrative  out- 
line that  Mark  provided.  The  clearest  case  of  Matthew's 
gift  in  topical  arrangement  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

The  date  of  the  composition  of  our  Gospel  Matthew  is 
set  by  scholars  all  the  way  from  70  to  90  A.  D.,  with  the 
majority  favoring  the  earlier  date  (see  Matt  22.  7  also  10. 
23;  16.  28).  There  is  a  geographical  suggestion  in  9.  26, 
31,  while  I.  23 ;  27.  33,  46  together  with  the  fact  that  it 
is  a  Greek  book,  show  that  the  author  wrote  for  Hebrews 
who  spoke  Greek. 


238  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

In  a  sense  that  is  true  of  no  other  book  Matthew  may 
be  called  the  New  Old  Testament.  It  gathers  up  the  ethical 
results  and  the  religious  idealism  of  the  old  covenant  and 
sees  them  crowned  in  the  one  whom  Mark  called  the  Son 
of  God.  The  author  of  this  Gospel  emphasized  the  fact  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  David,  the  Son  of  Abraham 
(i.  i)  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  Son  of  man,  who  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  all  that  Mark  claimed  and  more,  inasmuch  as  he 
is  the  ideal  of  every  prophetic  and  messianic  hope.  He  is 
the  King,  but  one  meek,  lowly,  sympathetic,  yet  greater  than 
any  worldly  politician  could  ever  be.  If  Mark  presented  the 
wonderful,  the  heroic  Son  of  God  to  whom  all,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  must  necessarily  testify,  Matthew  presented 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  consummate  ideal  of  the  Righteous  One, 
the  perfect  Prince  of  the  true  Israel. 

The  author  of  our  Matthew  offered  a  far  better  justifi- 
cation of  the  old  covenant  than  did  Paul  or  any  other  New 
Testament  writer.  He  conserved  every  value  of  the  old 
and  was  yet  progressive  enough  to  welcome  the  new.  He 
offered  the  most  practical  way  of  passing  from  the  one 
to  the  other. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  themes  of  Matthew  are  old  in 
word  but  new  in  significance.  Whether  he  treats  of  king, 
kingdom,  prophecy,  or  Messiah,  the  language  is  familiar  to 
the  reader  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  quality  of  the  dis- 
cussion is  ethical  rather  than  merely  national. 

With  almost  unconscious  assumption,  because  it  is  so 
clear  to  the  mind  of  the  writer,  the  existence  of  God  the 
Father  is  taken  for  granted  throughout  this  writing.  There 
is,  therefore,  rather  less  direct  reference  to  God,  Father,  and 
Spirit  than  one  might  look  for  in  such  a  book.  Jesus  is 
represented  as  referring  less  to  himself  than  might  be  ex- 
pected in  so  large  a  collection  of  his  sayings  (compare  Matt 
27.  II  with  Mark  14.  62).  The  writer  is  so  filled  with  the 
devout  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  that  he  moves  unconstrained 
in  a  personal,  prophetic  intimacy  with  things  divine.     We 


AIATTHEW  239 

have  as  the  result  an  ahnost  purely  ethical  Gospel  set  in 
Hebrew  piety. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Compare    the    Gospels    Matthew    and    Mark    in    their    general 

characteristics  much  as  you  would  two  persons. 

2.  What  is  the  character  of  the  material   in   Matthew  that  differs 

from  Mark?     Where  do  you  find  extended  passages  of  it? 

3.  If  we  had  Matthew's  Logia,  how  might  it  help  us  in  this  study? 

4.  How   may  the   author  of  our  present    Matthew   have   gone   to 

work  to  compose  his  Gospel  from  different  sources? 

5.  Why  should  we  prefer  the  result  to  any  one  of  his  sources? 

6.  Prove  from  selected  chapters  of  Matthew  that  the  author  used 

a  topical  method  in  presenting  his  material. 

7.  State  several  possible  wordings  of  the  theme  of  Matthew. 

8.  Try  to  trace  Mark's  outline  in  Matthew. 

9.  What  is  Matthew's  portrait  of  Jesus? 

10.  Read  ch.  5  and  indicate  the  literary  likenesses  to  the  style  of 

the  Old  Testament:  poetic  parallelism;  proverbial  statement; 
precept,  etc. 

11.  Illustrate  from  other  chapters  that  Matthew  wrote  for  Jews. 

12.  In  ch.  13  what  reminds  you  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testa- 

ment ? 

13.  In  ch.    13   what  is  Jesus's  teaching  about   the   kingdom?     How 

does  it  try  to  modify  the  common  Jewish  idea? 

14.  What  is   the   religious   and   ethical   point   of   view   gained    from 

familiarity  with  the  Gospel   of   Matthew? 

15.  Read  chs.  14  and  27  and  compare  with  the  narrative  power  of 

the  J  and  E  schools. 

16.  Read  chs.  23  to  25  and  state  the  nearest  analogies  in  the  Old 

Testament  literature. 


CHAPTER  IV 
MARK 

There  is  a  tradition  variously  reported  in  the  early  church 
writers  to  the  effect  that  this  account  in  Mark  depends  on 
Peter.  Some  say  it  was  written  while  Peter  was  yet  alive, 
and  others  date  it  after  his  death.  Eusebius,  the  early 
church  historian,  quotes  from  an  earlier  writer,  Papias,  who, 
as  already  stated,  was  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  the  first  half 
of  the  second  century: 

"Mark,  being  the  interpreter  of  Peter,  wrote  down  accu- 
rately everything  that  he  remembered,  not,  however,  record- 
ing in  order  what  was  said  or  done  by  Christ.  For  neither 
did  he  hear  the  Lord  nor  follow  him,  but  afterward,  as  I 
said,  attended  Peter,  who  adapted  his  instructions  to  the 
needs  of  his  hearers  but  had  no  purpose  of  giving  a  con- 
nected treatment  of  the  Lord's  words.  Mark  made  no  mis- 
take as  he  wrote  down  thus  certain  things  as  he  remembered 
them ;  for  he  was  careful  not  to  omit  anything  that  he 
heard  or  to  set  down  any  false  statement"  (Eusebius  H.  E., 

3-39)- 

John  Mark,  though  not  an  apostle,  was  closely  associated 
with  Peter,  who  is  represented  as  calHng  Mark  his  son  (in 
the  faith)  in  i  Pet  5.  13.  Mark  was  a  cousin  of  Barnabas 
and  was  with  Barnabas  and  Saul  on  their  first  missionary 
tour.  Tradition  says  that  Mark  was  written  at  Rome. 
Certain  modern  scholars  emphasize  the  claim  that  it  was 
written  for  Gentile  readers,  while  others  hold  that  an  early 
Gospel  of  ]\Iark  was  revised  by  a  Roman  Christian.  There 
is  much  discussion  as  to  what  the  various  testimonies,  and 
particularly  that  of  Papias,  mean.  Papias  says  that  Mark 
did  not  record  "in  order."    Did  he  refer  to  Mark  as  we  have 

240 


MARK  241 

it  or  to  an  earlier  form  of  the  same  account?  Have  the 
connective  notes  of  place  and  occasion  in  Mark  been  added 
since  Papias  wrote,  or  does  he  include  them  in  his  criticism? 
That  is  to  sa3\  does  Papias's  criticism  of  Mark's  order  and 
arrangement  refer  to  Mark's  chronological  order  or  to  the 
rhetorical  order,  arrangement,  and  the  scope  of  the  Gospel  ? 
There  is  certainly  a  definite  outline  of  narrative  in  Mark. 
Fault  has  been  found  with  the  chronological  scheme  of 
Mark,  but  most  of  all  with  the  connective  notes  of  place  and 
time  VN'hich  to  certain  scholars  seem  at  points  to  have  been 
added  without  an  accurate  tradition.  Compare  connection  of 
3.  7  with  context  and  with  5.  i,  etc. ;  7.  24,  etc. ;  compare 
3.  13-15  with  9.  2-29  (mountains  and  demons).    See  i.  16. 

Another  reason  for  believing  that  the  successive  notes  of 
place  in  Mark  cannot  be  in  chronological  order  is  that  they 
do  not  seem  to  give  an  adequate  outline  of  the  activities  of 
Jesus. 

One  may  try  for  oneself  with  the  aid  of  a  map  to  arrange 
the  successive  loci  and  get  the  historical  and  geographical 
scheme  independent  of  the  clusters  of  teaching  which  may 
thus  be  seen  to  be  more  or  less  correctly  attached  to  the 
narrative  stems.  Moreover,  such  a  study  will  reveal  how 
much  of  the  topical  character  really  belongs  to  Mark's 
treatment  in  spite  of  the  superficial  impression  one  gets  of 
its  lack  in  that  respect. 

From  the  indications  of  place  as  given  in  succession  in 
the  story  in  Mark,  we  may  attempt  to  reconstruct  the 
itinerary  of  Jesus  somewhat  as  follows : 

Beginning  with  Mark  i.   14: 

"Jesus  came  into  Galilee,"  i.  14. 

"passing  along  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,"   i.   16. 

"they  go  into  Capernaum,"  i.  21. 

(synagogue  and  house,  i.  29.) 

in  morning  went  out,  desert  place,  i.  35. 

"next  towns"  and  their  synagogues  through  all  Galilee,  i.  38 
and  39. 

"a  city,"  or  "the  city,"  "without  in  desert  places,"   i.  45. 


242  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

■'he  entered  again  into  Capernaum  after  some  days,"  2.  i. 

"he  went  forth  again  by  the  seaside,"  2.   13. 

"Through  the  grainfields"   (Sabbath),  2.  2^. 

"into  the  synagogue,"  3.  i. 

"Jesus  with  his  disciples  withdrew  to  the  sea,"  3.  7. 

"goeth  up  into  the  mountain,"  3.   13. 

"and  he  cometh  into  a  house,"  3.  19b. 

(What  has  this  to  do  with  3.  13-193  and  3.  2ff.  ?). 

"and  again  he  began  to  teach  by  the  seaside,"  4.   i. 

"Let  us  go  over  unto  the  other  side,"  4.  35f.  "And  they  came 
to  the  other  side,"  5.  i. 

"And  when  Jesus  had  crossed  over  again  in  the  boat  unto  the 
other  side,"  5.  21  ;   "by  the   sea,"   "the   synagogue." 

"And  he  went  out  from  thence ;  and  he  cometh  into  his  own 
country,"  6.   i. 

"And  he  went  round  about  the  villages  teaching,"  6.  6b. 

"a  desert  place,"  6.  31;  "in  the  boat  to  a  desert  place,"  6.  32; 
the  people  ran  there  on  foot  and  outwent  them,  6.  33 ;  there  were 
villages  about,  6.  36. 

"to  go  before  him  unto  the  other  side  to  Bethsaida,"  6.  45. 

"he  departed  into  the  mountain  to  pray,"  6.  46. 

"crossed  over  ...  to  the  land  unto   Gennesaret,"  6.   53. 

villages,  cities,  country,  6.  56;  where,  into  the  house?  7.  17. 
Where  was  this? 

"And  from  thence  he  arose  and  went  away  into  the  borders  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon,"  7.  24. 

"And  again  he  went  out  from  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  through 
Sidon  unto  the  Sea  of  Galilee  through  the  midst  of  the  borders 
of  Decapolis,"  7.  31. 

"And  straight  he  entered  into  the  boat  with  his  disciples  and 
came  into  the  parts  of  Dalmanutha,"  8.  10. 

Further  indications  of  place  are  found  in  8.  22,  27 ;  9.  2,  9,  30,  23  '< 
10.  17;  10.  32,  46;  II.  I,  II,  12,  15,  19,  27;  12.  35,  41;  13.  I,  3; 
14-  3,  I7f-.  26,  32,  53;  15.  I,  16,  20,  22,  46;  16.  6. 

Why  are  the  data  comparatively  scanty,  considering  how 
large  a  volume  an  adequate  life  of  Christ  would  make? 
All  the  activities  of  the  early  disciples  led  to  a  kind  of  mis- 
sionary specialization  which  picked  out  those  materials  that 
would  be  of  most  use  for  immediate  purposes.  They  did 
not  grasp  the  scope  of  the  life  and  influence  of  Jesus. 

The    subject   of    IMark    is   Jesus's    active    ministry    and 


MARK  243 

accompanying    experiences    with    special    attention    to    tlie 
tragic  close  of  the  earthly  career. 

The  simplest  outline  of  the  book  would  recognize  three 
parts : 

1.  Introduction. 

2.  Galilasan  Experiences. 

3.  Judcean  Experiences. 

The  last  chapter  of  Mark  has  suffered  loss ;  16.  8  ends 
abruptly  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  and  the  present  vv.  9-20 
have  been  added  to  some  manuscripts  from  an  unauthentic 
source.  Moreover,  the  vv.  9-20  disagree  in  content  with 
the  expectation  of  14.  27-31  (66-72)  ;  16.  7,  and  are  more 
closely  related  to  Luke's  account. 

Other  passages  in  our  present  Mark  which  have  been 
questioned  as  to  original  right  in  the  Gospel  include  9.  49. 
50b ;  10.  12,  38b,  39b. 

The  purpose  of  the  book  is  to  show  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  The  first  verse  announces  it  and 
every  turn  and  circumstance  supports  it.  Prophets,  John 
the  Baptist,  the  Voice  from  heaven,  demons,  cures,  words, 
amazement,  wonder,  the  meeting  of  all  caviling,  the  testi- 
mony of  a  scribe,  and  of  Peter,  the  "I  am"  of  Jesus  him- 
self (14.  62),  the  words  of  the  centurion,  provide  an  accu- 
mulation of  proof  for  Jesus's  position. 

Sketch  of  the  contents  of  Mark.  The  Gospel  is  an  under- 
taking to  tell  the  good  news  about  or  concerning  Jesus 
Christ.  John  the  Baptist  gave  very  plain  testimony  concern- 
ing the  uniqueness  of  Jesus  Christ  and  distinguished  him 
as  the  one  who  would  baptize  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  A 
Voice  from  the  heavens  adds  the  only  remaining  testimony 
possible,  unless  it  be  the  wonderful  deeds  themselves  of 
this  compassionate  One  (see  also  14.  62).  Even  the  unclean 
spirit  testifies  to  Jesus.  Sickness,  diseases,  demons,  all  yield 
and  (2.  5)  Jesus  even  says,  "Son,  thy  sins  are  forgiven." 


244  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

Thereupon  ensues  the  first  question  of  hostihty.  The 
scribes  say,  in  their  hearts,  "Why?"  (2.  6-8.)  Astonishment 
was  early  aroused  (i.  22)  ;  but  such  things  could  not  yet 
stem  the  great  tide  of  popularity.  Jesus  replies  at  once  to 
the  incipient  criticism  and  by  his  logic  (2.  Qff.)  amazes  the 
audience. 

By  his  authority  thus  exhibited  morally  and  physically 
he  continues  to  call  men  into  his  ministry  (2.  14  and  see 
I.  17;  2.  isfif.).  The  cavilings  of  the  scribes  and  the  Pharisees 
are  frankly  met  and  Jesus  throws  his  interests  in  with  the 
sinners  and  not  with  the  righteous. 

Jesus  even  goes  the  length  (3.  ifif.)  of  dispensing  with 
the  current  religious  program  when  it  neglects  the  interests 
of  the  needy.  This  as  it  afifected  the  Sabbath  was  too  much 
for  the  Pharisaic  party,  who  "went  out  and  straightway  with 
the  Herodians  took  counsel  against  him  how  they  might 
destroy  him"  (3.  6). 

The  fate  planned  for  Jesus  does  not  immediately  afifect  his 
popular  favor.  The  multitudes  are  still  his  followers.  Jesus 
(3.  i3ff.)  draws  about  himself  those  who  will  most  surely 
remain  with  him.  They  number  twelve  men.  There  is  a 
little  company  of  enemies  plotting  his  destruction ;  there 
is  a  little  company  of  devoted  friends ;  then  there  is  the 
great  multitude — the  parish  of  his  compassions. 

But,  tragically  enough,  neither  little  company  understands 
him  (3.  21);  "and  when  his  friends  heard  it,  they  went 
out  to  lay  hold  on  him;  for  they  said,  He  is  beside  himself 
(3.  22),  and  the  scribes  that  came  down  from  Jerusalem 
said.  He  hath  Beelzebub,  and  by  the  prince  of  the  demons 
casteth  he  out  the  demons." 

The  popularity  of  Jesus  increases  and  his  teaching  con- 
tinues near  the  western  shore  of  Galilee.  He  next  crosses 
to  the  country  of  the  Gerasenes  (ch.  5),  but  is  besought 
to  leave  them,  as  the  people  are  appalled  at  his  deeds.  He 
seems  to  think  that  the  great  deeds  have  their  own  hindering 
effects  upon  his  message.     The  two  themes  of  the  Great 


MARK  245 

Teacher  and  the  Wonder-worker  seem  to  struggle  together 
in  the  writer's  mind  (6.  52;  7.  6,  37;  8.  38). 

Jesus  disturbs  the  ordinary  estimates  when  he  says  that 
the  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first,  as  well  as  by  the 
lessons  from  the  little  child  (9). 

Through  chs.  10,  11,  and  12  the  conflict  and  the  premo- 
nition of  the  end  become  more  apparent. 

In  ch.  13  the  apocalyptic  warnings  of  future  trouble  to 
his  followers  appear,  and  heighten  the  sense  of  tragedy. 

His  very  friends  are  unstable  (14),  and  the  enemy  seizes 
upon  his  person  and  ultimately  leads  him  to  the  cross. 

The  bitter  tide  has  swept  him  away.  What  remains  of  the 
Gospel  is  the  beginning  of  that  great  tide  of  humaneness 
that  has  never  ceased  to  flow  toward  the  Saviour  on  the 
cross. 

This  Gospel  must  have  been  written  near  the  time  of  those 
severe  trials  which  brought  to  the  mind  of  the  writer  the 
words  of  the  Lord  in  ch.  13.  We  refer  to  the  distressful 
times  in  Palestine  when  the  Romans  were  in  the  country 
with  a  devastating  army,  besieging  Jerusalem.  Such  an- 
guish and  sense  of  the  end  would  recall  the  words  recorded 
in  that  ominous,  apocalyptic  chapter.  Scholars  set  the  date 
all  the  way  between  65  and  75  A.  D. 

The  book  is  a  compact  and  rapidly  told  narrative,  vivid 
and  dramatic  in  its  style  which  is  more  a  spoken  than  a 
literary  style.  Its  realism  and  force  are  soon  felt.  One  has 
the  sense  often  of  being  present  in  its  scenes  and  catching  in- 
fluences of  color,  sounds,  and  other  impressions  of  a  partici- 
pant. Its  most  striking  literary  characteristic  is  its  vividness, 
(i)  The  historical  present  is  frequently  used,  (2)  The 
very  Aramaic  words  used  by  Jesus  are  often  repeated  (5.  41 ; 
7.  II,  34),  (3)  The  very  attitude  and  gestures  of  Jesus 
are  often  noted.  (4)  Details  not  necessary  for  the  story 
are  narrated.  (5)  The  Gospel  is  largely  concerned  with 
the  deeds  rather  than  the  words  of  Jesus. 


246  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Tell  all  that  is  known  about  the  origins  of  Mark's  narrative. 

2.  What  more  would  we  like  in  Mark's  outline? 

3.  In  the  notes  of  place  in  the  outline  where  is  the  sequence  least 

clear? 

4.  From  the  outline,  how  long  would  the  active  ministry  of  Jesus 

seem  to  have  been? 

5.  What  are  the  main  divisions  of  Mark's  outline? 

6.  Discuss  the  state  of  the  text  in  the  last  chapter  of  Mark.     Read 

in  other  New  Testament  Introduction. 

7.  For  what  purpose  was  Mark  written? 

8.  How  far  in  the  life  of  Christ  does  the  first  chapter  of  Mark 

take  us? 

9.  Why  is  there   such   a   difference   as  this   from   the   opening  of 

Matthew  ? 

10.  Read  Mark  3,  and  explain  the  difference  between  its  narrative 

manner  and  Matthew  14  to  27. 

11.  Compare  for  content  and  style,  Mark  13  with  Matt  23  to  25. 

12.  Read   Mark   i   and  2,  noting  elements  of  vividness. 

13.  Read  Mark  3  to  g  for  (a)  kinds  of  incidents  told;   (b)  impres- 

siotis  of  Jesus  on  the  people,  noted  by  Mark;   (c)  main  ideas 
of  Jesus's  teachings? 

14.  What  impression  about  Jesus  does  Mark  wish  to  leave  on  the 

reader? 


CHAPTER  V 
LUKE 

Although  a  number  of  accounts  of  the  career  and  words 
of  Jesus  Christ  had  been  attempted,  the  Greek  hterary  and 
historical  sense  of  the  author  of  the  third  Gospel  was  not 
satisfied,  and  doubtless  he  felt  that  many  like  him  would 
approve  if  he  undertook  faithfully  to  outline  all  things  from 
the  beginning  of  the  gospel  proclamation.  He  had  valuable 
material  to  add,  as  well,  to  the  information  already  found 
in  his  predecessors.  He  brought  to  his  task  more  of  the 
European  method  of  Greek  historical  writers,  and  continued 
his  work  in  a  second  book  which  we  know  as  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles. 

It  is  ordinarily  believed  that  this  author  was  Luke,  the 
physician,  friend,  and  ofttime  traveling  companion  of  Paul 
(Col  4.  14;  Philem  24). 

The  outline  of  the  third  Gospel  may  be  drawn  as  follows : 


\   TliG  Pre  I  fic€* 
Introduction,  i  to  2  -'  .        ^    , '    t 

btories  of  the  In 


fancy. 

ijohn  the  Baptist. 
1  emptation. 
Ministry  of  Jesus. 

3.  Perean  Scenes,  10  to  19.  28. 

4.  Jud?ean  Scenes,  19.  29  to  24. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  material  peculiar  to  Luke  is  in 
the  first  and  third  sections  of  the  outline.  Luke  is  a  little 
longer  than  Matthew.  It  omits  more  of  Mark  than  does 
Matthew,  but  keeps  its  narrative  in  close  dependence  on 
Mark's  outline.  It  seeks,  more  often  than  Matthew  does, 
to  provide  its  discourses  with  narrative  connections. 

247 


248 


THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 


The  narratives  in  Luke  are  more  explicit  than  in  Mark, 
clearing  up  any  ambiguity  that  might  be  found  in  the  terse 
and  colloquial  statements  of  Mark,  securing  precision,  some- 
times by  expansion  and  sometimes  by  obvious  translations  of 
Mark's  thought.  Wherever  possible  Luke  makes  this  treat- 
ment add  to  the  dignity  and  the  graciousness  of  the  Lord, 
or  give  an  official  aspect  to  his  mission. 

Compare  Luke  4.  33  with  Mark  i.  23 


4-  38  " 

"   1. 30 

4. 41   " 

"   1-34 

4-  43   " 

"   1. 38 

8. 22   " 

"   4-  35 

8.24f.  " 

"   4-  39ff 

8. 29  " 

"   5.8. 

8. 47  " 

"   5-  33 

8. 54  " 

"   5-41 

19-  33      " 

"  II.  5 

19. 38  " 

"  II.  9 

Many  other  passages  illustrate  these  traits  of  Luke. 

Luke  sometimes  omitted  Mark's  material  in  order  to  make 
the  account  stand  out  more  clearly.  Luke  18.  35  as  com- 
pared with  Mark  10.  46  has  been  greatly  simplified.  A 
notable  case  of  omission  is  the  story  of  the  feeding  of  the 
multitude.  Both  Mark  and  Matthew  have  two  instances  of 
this.     Luke  selects  one  of  them  (Luke  9.  10  ff.). 

Luke's  tendency  to  interpret  in  detail  seems  at  times  to 
change  the  intent  of  Mark's  statement,  as  in  the  actual 
bodily  form  of  the  Spirit  (Luke  3.  21 ;  Mark  i.  10).  Also 
in  Luke  4.  41  (Mark  i.  34)  Alark's  statement  that  Jesus 
suffered  not  the  demons  to  speak  is  contrasted  with  their 
utterance  in  Luke,  after  which  they  are  rebuked.  Part  of 
this  seems  to  be  for  the  sake  of  testimony,  as  in  Luke 
19.  38  (compare  Mark  11.  9),  where  "  he"  is  changed  to 
"king."  A  notable  instance  of  this  interpretation  is  in 
Luke  4.  43  (Mark  i.  38)  Hsted  above. 

As  compared  with  Matthew,  it  is  commonly  thought  that 


LUKE  249 

Luke  preserves  a  better  order  and  connection  of  the  sayings 
of  Jesus ;  at  least  it  seems  more  plausible  to  us.  We  do  not 
know  Luke's  authority  for  making  the  connections.  The 
most  clear  instance  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  say- 
ings of  which  are  attached  to  various  points  in  the  career 
of  Jesus,  thus  abbreviating  the  Sermon  in  Luke.  Great 
care,  apparently,  was  expended  by  the  author  of  Luke 
on  this  literary  and  historical  arrangement  of  materials. 
Such  a  passage  as  Luke  13.  22-35  makes  a  single  pres- 
entation of  materials  found  in  chs.  7,  8,  19,  2;^,  and  25  of 
Matthew. 

A  few  scholars  hold  that  Luke's  report  of  Jesus's  words 
is  much  to  be  preferred  to  that  of  Matthew.  With  this 
judgment  many  would  disagree. 

Luke  had  no  occasion,  as  did  Matthew,  to  show  the  rela- 
tion of  Jesus  to  the  old  covenant.  Luke's  purpose  was  to 
call  attention  to  the  significance  of  Jesus  for  the  Roman 
world.  He  is  the  one  who  mentions  the  name  of  the 
emperor  (2.  i ;  3.  i ;  Acts  11,  28;  18.  2)  and  who  names  the 
Roman  officials. 

Luke's  peculiar  material  is  found  in  chapters  i  to  3,  also 
in  4.  16-30 ;  7.  1 1-17  ;  7.  36-50 ;  9.  51-56 ;  10.  25-37 ;  10.  38-42  ; 
12.  13-21;  13.  1-5;  13.  10-17;  15.  11-32;  16.  1-12;  16. 
19-31;  17.  11-19;  18.  1-3;  18.  9-14;  19.  i-io;  23.  4-19; 
^3-  39-43;  24.  13-35.  A  reading  of  this  shows  what  valu- 
able material  Luke  adds  to  the  synoptic  record.  Much  of 
it,  in  the  early  chapters,  is  such  as  the  author  of  Matthew 
would  probably  have  been  glad  to  use  had  he  known  of  it; 
and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  selection  does  not  wholly 
neglect  material  which  would  be  even  more  interesting  to 
a  Hebrew  than  to  a  Gentile. 

Luke  had  a  very  characteristic  style.  He  put  the  vivacity 
and  joyousness  of  the  Greek  nature  into  his  narratives,  drew 
fine  pictures  of  personalities  and  events. 

I.  He  portrayed  domestic  scenes  and  included  many 
women  among  his  characters. 


250 


THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 


2.  There  is  a  strong  religious  interest.  He  emphasized 
prayer  and  praise. 

3.  He  tended  to  heighten  the  impressions  and  effects, 
presenting  grander  and  more  marvelous  situations,  testi- 
monies, and  results  in  the  career  of  Jesus. 

4.  He  showed  keen  historical  interest,  relating  most 
closely  the  deeds  and  words  of  Jesus. 

5.  He  was  not  only  an  editor  of  material  but  a  gifted 
composer.  He  used  beautiful  Greek  especially  in  his  earlier 
passages.  Notice  the  grace  of  his  preface  (i.  1-4).  Those 
four  verses  alone  suggest  to  us  the  following  points  about 
Luke's  method :  ( i )  That  it  was  the  scholarly,  historical 
method  of  the  classical  historian,  reminding  us  of  Herodotus. 
(2)  That  it  is  the  nearest  in  the  Bible  to  the  modern  method. 
Luke  used  his  sources  critically,  being  dissatisfied  wdth  the 
fragmentary  Gospels  of  his  day.  (3)  That  he  had  a  literary 
patron,  as  was  customary  with  European  authors.  (4)  That 
he  was  more  conscious  of  the  dignity  of  his  task,  which  was 
to  present  a  satisfactory  history  of  Jesus. 

Luke's  is  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  the  synoptic  Gospels, 
and  was  the  most  successful  Christian  appeal  to  the  great 
Roman  and  Greek  world  until  the  writing  of  a  more  philo- 
sophical Gospel,  that  of  John. 

There  was  a  very  famous  and  earnest  heretic  by  the  name 
of  Marcion  who  taught  in  Rome  about  144  A.  D.  He 
sought  to  confine  himself  to  a  strictly  Pauline  collection  of 
writings  as  his  Scriptures  and  seized  upon  Luke  as  the  true 
Gospel,  though  he  left  out  certain  parts  of  it. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  justification  was  there  for  a  third  Gospel? 

2.  What  is  the  independent  material  in  Luke? 

3.  Compare  certain  parallels  in  Luke  and  Mark  as  to  style  and 

meaning. 

4.  What  were  the  chief  characteristics  of  Luke  as  an  author? 

5.  What  does  i.  1-4  show  as  to  the  writer  and  his  purpose? 

6.  Distinguish  between  story  and  song  in  Luke  I  to  4. 


LUKE  251 

7.  Wliy   does   Luke's   insertion   of   the  genealogy  come  in  ch.   3 

while  in  Matt  it  is  in  ch.   i  ?     Compare  the  genealogies. 

8.  Read  Luke  n  to  14.     Make  a  list  of  the  subjects  with  which 

Jesus's  teaching  is  here  concerned. 

9.  Read  15,  16,  18.    What  is  the  meaning  of  each  of  the  parables? 

10.  In  those  chapters  is  the  teaching  Jewish  or  universal  ?     What 

of  the  frequency  of  references  to  the  Messiah?     To  the  Old 
Testament? 

11.  What  is  the  teaching  in  the  above  passages  as  to  God's  love 

for  the  poor  and  sinful  ? 

12.  Summarize   the    impressions   of   Jesus   which    Luke    makes    in 

chs.   II  to  18. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A    COMPARATIVE    STUDY    OF    THE    LITERARY 
FORM  OF  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

We  have  seen  the  service  of  criticism  in  tracing  the 
sources  and  methods  in  the  writing  of  our  first  three  Gos- 
pels. The  next  step  is  to  study  the  Hterary  form  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  as  they  are  embodied  in  these  Gospels, 
seeking  to  distinguish  the  style  of  the  original  teachings 
from  the  style  of  the  authors.  The  teachings  of  Jesus  seem 
at  first  easily  separable  from  the  context  in  which  they  are 
set  in  the  Gospels,  and  appear  ( i )  to  be  similar  in  form 
to  utterances  of  the  Hebrew  Wisdom  teachers,  those  sages 
whose  short,  pithy  statements,  proverbs,  parables,  and  il- 
lustrative stories  are  found  in  the  Wisdom  writings.  (2) 
The  spirit  of  Jesus's  teachings  seems  most  akin  to  the  fer- 
vent quality  of  the  great  prophets. 

But  further  comparison  of  these  teachings  in  parallel 
passages  in  two  or  more  Gospels  shows  that  their  literary 
form  varies  between  the  Gospels  so  that  we  have  still 
further  work  to  do  before  we  can  recover  the  original  style 
of  Jesus's  teaching.  The  reason  for  the  difficulty  is  that  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  have  come  to  us  through  the  mem.ory  of 
others  and  in  the  context  chosen  by  the  author. 

One  of  the  most  instructive  passages  in  which  to  make  a 
comparative  study  of  sayings  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
which  appears  in  two  Gospels,  Matthew  and  Luke. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  When  thinking  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  most  people  would  picture  him  as  speaking 
out  of  doors.  We  remember  that  he  spoke  in  synagogues 
also,  in  homes,  and  in  the  temple.  But  he  uttered  most  of 
his  words  to  the  people  in  the  less  conventional  open  air. 

252 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS  253 

It  is  not  likely  that  a  set  discourse,  such  as  a  modern 
sermon,  was  ever  delivered  by  the  Master.  We  think  of  him 
rather  as  conversing  with  friends  and  discussing  with  the 
skeptical.  Probably  the  most  finished  utterances  were  his 
parables.  When  speaking  to  a  group  and  with  prophetic 
fervor  his  discourse  would  be  marked  with  intensity  and 
rhythm  not  dissimilar  to  poetical  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets. 

Many  scholars  would  hold  to  the  opinion  that  there  was 
a  distinctive  Sermon  on  the  Mount  comparable  with  at 
least  a  part  of  the  account  in  Matthew.  A  few  would  go 
so  far  as  to  claim  that  we  have  the  accounts  of  two  such 
discourses,  one  in  Matthew  and  one  in  Luke.  But  the  pre- 
ponderating opinion  is  that  they  are  meant  to  refer  to  the 
same  occasion,  the  same  Sermon.  The  very  similar  begin- 
ning and  closing  sections  in  each  are  pretty  conclusive  signs 
of  identity.  Yet  they  are  of  very  different  length  and 
contain  strange  variations.  It  would,  therefore,  be  allowed 
that  much  other  teaching  of  Jesus  has  been  gathered  about 
the  core  of  the  Sermon  in  Matthew,  for  it  is  improbable 
that  Jesus  would  gather  so  many  unrelated  themes  in  one 
discourse. 

With  regard  to  the  question,  "How  well  would  the  sayings 
of  Jesus  be  remembered  by  his  hearers  ?"  it  may  be  granted 
that  the  retention  of  a  number  of  the  incisive  sentences  of 
Jesus  would  not  be  too  great  a  burden  for  the  Oriental 
memory.  As  to  many  more  of  his  sayings,  there  would  be 
no  great  care  to  preserve  their  absolute  statement  if  the 
substance  were  retained. 

Concerning  the  question  of  sayings  being  repeated,  or 
the  utterance  of  very  similar  sayings  on  different  occasions, 
both  probabilities  may  be  allowed,  but  especially  the  latter. 
It  is  very  likely  that  Jesus'  sayings  had  certain  leading 
characteristics  of  spirit  and  expression  which  would  be 
readily  recognized  and  remembered  by  certain  of  his  keener 
disciples. 


254  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Outline   of   the    Sermon   on    the    Mount 

Matthezv  Luke 

5.  I  and  2  Place  and  Audience    6.  17  and  20 

(i)    5.3-12  Beatitudes  6.20-23 

(2)  (see  23.  13-36)  Woes  6.  24-26 

(3)  5-  13-16  Similes    of    Salt   and 

Light  (i4-34f-;  11-33) 

(4)  5-  17-20  Concerning  Old  Law 

and  Prophets  (16.  17) 

(5)  5.  2if.  The  Spirit  of  Murder 

(6)  5.  23f.  Reconciliation 

(7)  5-25f.  Legal  Immunity  (12.57-59) 

(8)  5.  27f.  Adultery 

(9)  5.  29f.  Purging  of  Evil 

(10)  5. 3if.  Divorce  (16.18) 

(11)  S- 2.^-37  Oaths 

(12)  5.38-42  Nonresistance  6. 29f. 

(13)  5-43-48  Love  of  Enemies      6.  27f.,  32-36 

(14)  6.  1-4  Alms 

(15)  6.5-8  Prayer 

(16)  6.9-15  Lord's  Prayer  (11.  1-4) 

(17)  6.  16-18  Fasting 

(18)  6.  19-21  Treasure — Earthly 

and  Heavenly  (12.  33f. ) 

(19)  6. 22f.  Light    Within  (11.34-36) 

(20)  6.24  Two    Masters  (16.13) 

(21)  6.25-34  Anxiety  (12.22-31) 

(22)  7.  1-5  Hypocritical  Judg- 

ments 6.  37-42 

(23)  7.  6  Pearls  to  Swine,  etc. 

(24)  7.  7-II  Asking  and  Receiving  (11.  9-13) 

(25)  7.12  Golden    Rule  6.31 

(26)  7.  I3f.  Strait  and  Narrow 

Way  (13. 23f.) 

(27)  7.  15  False  Prophets 

(28)  7.  16-20  (of.  12.  33-35)    Good  and  Bad  Fruit  6.  43-45 

(29)  7.21-23  False    Profession         6.46  (i3.26f.) 

(30)  7. 24-27  Character  as  a  Build- 

ing 6.  47-49 

Viewing  tlic  two  accounts  of  the  Sermon  side  by  side, 
we  notice  the  following-  similarities : 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS  255 

1.  Both  place  the  collection  of  teachings  early  in  the  outline  of 
Jesus's  ministry. 

2.  Both  begin  with  beatitudes. 

3.  Both  contain  the  following  sections :  i,  12,  13,  22,  25,  28,  29,  30. 

4.  Both  end  in  the  same  manner,  with  the  lesson  of  the  builder. 

We  note  the  following  variations : 

1.  The  Length.  Matthew's  version,  in  English,  makes  107  verses ; 
Luke's,  30  verses. 

2.  The  Beatitudes :  Luke  has  four  in  the  second  person  plural ; 
Matthew's  version  has  several  more  and  in  the  third  person. 

In  Matthew  5.  10,  11,  the  last  beatitude  is  repeated, 
being  given  in  the  third  person  in  verse  10  and  in  the  second 
person  in  verse  11.  This  device  strengthens  by  emphasis 
the  closing  beatitude.  The  concrete  case  in  verse  ii  is  in 
parallel  structure  and  affords  emphasis,  while  the  use  of  the 
second  person  is  an  easy  transition  to  the  style  (second 
person)  of  the  succeeding  exhortations. 

The  "blessing  on  the  meek"  is,  apparently,  not  original 
with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  not  being  found  in  any 
certain  order  in  the  MSS. ;  which  would  suggest  that  it 
may  be  a  comment  worked  in  from  the  margin,  where  it 
had  been  drawn  from  Psa  37.  11,  It  disturbs  the  very 
evident  intention  of  Matthew  to  present  seven  beatitudes. 
The  author's  fondness  for  arrangement  by  sevens  would 
incline  him  to  give  a  dignified  opening  to  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  by  seven  grand,  spiritually  conceived  blessings. 
Notice  the  sevenfold  grouping  in  chs.  13  and  23,  also  in 
Matthew's  version  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

There  is  an  altogether  different  feeling  in  the  Beatitudes 
as  reported  by  Matthew  and  Luke.  The  reference  to  class 
conditions  is  felt  in  Luke's  version.  The  two  interpretations 
of  the  Beatitudes  are  as  different  as  two  contrasted  concep- 
tions of  the  kingdom,  the  evolutionary  and  the  revolu- 
tionary. In  Matthew  the  blessings  flow  logically  out  of  the 
spiritual  states  and  are  the  normal  results  of  certain  types 
of  character.     In  Luke  the  promise  is  that  the  blessings 


256  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

named  are  assured  in  spite  of  and  opposed  to  the  present 
conditions  of  privation. 

3.  The  Woes.  Luke's  account  has  an  equal  number  of 
woes  following  the  Beatitudes.  Contrasted  parallelism  is 
a  very  common  literary  custom  in  both  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testament,  and  hence  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that 
similar  blessings  and  woes  may  have  been  in  the  discourse 
of  Jesus. 

4.  Omissions  from  Luke.  Many  verses  of  Matthew's 
Sermon  on  the  IMount  are  not  found  anywhere  in  Luke's 
Gospel.  Most  of  them  are  passages  which  would  not  be 
serviceable  to  Luke's  Gentile  readers,  but  occasionally  even 
Luke  included  distinctly  Hebraistic  material. 

5.  Variations  as  to  Place  and  Audience.  These  are  of 
minor  importance.  For  the  place  see  Matt  5.  i ;  Luke  6. 
12  and  17;  for  the  audience  see  Matt  4.  25 ;  5.  i;  7.  28; 
Luke  6.  17  and  20  and  7.  i. 

Compare  the  number  of  the  apostles  chosen  before  the 
preaching  of  the  Sermon  (Matt  4.  18-22  and  Luke  6.  I3ff.). 

6.  Attempt  to  Place  Sayings  in  Connection  with  Their 
Historical  Occasions.  Luke  shows  a  keener  historical  pur- 
pose and  an  eye  to  chronological  sequence  of  events.  Thus 
he  sought  to  provide  probable  connections  between  sayings 
of  Jesus  and  their  appropriate  occasion.  The  sayings  were 
probably  collected  originally  without  great  regard  for  such 
connections  and  Matthew  shows  far  less  tendency  to  supply 
the  lack.  Thus  in  Matthew  the  topical  method  is  more 
likely  to  prevail  than  the  chronological.  But  Luke  sought 
to  separate  the  groups  of  sayings  and  affix  <^ch  to  the 
proper  point  in  the  narrative.  This  outstanding  difference 
in  the  methods  of  the  authors  will  explain  many  of  their 
variations  from  each  other. 

A  prominent  instance  of  the  difference  which  the  con- 
nection or  setting  of  a  passage  makes  is  the  Lord's  Prayer 
(Matt  6.  9-13;  Luke  11.  1-4).  In  Luke  it  is  found  outside 
of  the   Sermon  on  the   Mount,  and  would   seem   to  come 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS  257 

more  naturally  in  response  to  a  request  of  the  disciples, 
"Lord,  teach  us  to  pray,"  than  in  the  associations  in  which  it 
is  found  in  Matthew. 

7.  The  variation  of  meaning  in  the  following  parallel 
passages  in  the  two  Gospels,  whether  they  are  put  by  both 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  or  placed  by  one  author  in 
some  other  connection : 

(i)  Under  paragraph  2  we  have  already  seen  the  varia- 
tions between  the  Beatitudes  as  given  in  Matthew  and  Luke. 
By  adding  the  words  "in  spirit"  to  the  first  blessing,  Matthew 
makes  an  utterly  different  meaning  from  Luke's. 

(2)  Matt  5.  23f,  presents  a  lofty  ideal  as  compared  with 
vv.  25  and  26,  which  seem  sordid  by  contrast,  and  thus  an 
anticlimax  to  the  preceding  two  verses.  The  thought  in 
5.  25f.  is  given  by  Luke  also  in  12.  54-59.  Note  how 
superior  is  Luke's  manner  of  introducing  his  thought  in 
vv.  58,  59.  First  he  treats  of  natural  phenomena  (vv.  54, 
55)  and  then  leads  on  logically  and  suggestively  to  the 
specific  case  of  peacemaking  and  foresight. 

(3)  Matt  5.  38-42  and  Luke  6.  29f.  Matthew's  form  of 
presentation  results  simply  in  the  teaching,  "Do  not  take 
revenge,"  or  passive  resistance.  Luke  brings  out  the  nature 
of  the  positive  law  of  love. 

(4)  Matt  6.  19-21,  about  laying  up  heavenly  treasure, 
seems  to  have  no  relationship  with  the  two  verses  which 
precede,  but  in  Luke  12.  13-34  there  is  much  rhetorical 
grace  and  a  good  climax. 

(5)  Matt  7.  i;  Luke  6.  37,  "Judge  not."  In  Matthew 
this  evidently  refers  to  the  habits  of  Pharisees,  but  in  Luke 
it  is  refined  and  broadened,  in  accord  with  his  custom  of 
dropping  Jewish  references. 

(6)  Matt  7.  3-5;  Luke  6.  39-42.  This  is  the  "mote 
and  beam"  passage  which  Matthew  joins  closely  with  "Judge 
not,"  but  in  Luke  the  connection  is  broken  by  a  parable. 
The  result  is  that  the  "mote  and  beam"  teaching  is  not  so 
much  a  matter  of  judging  as  a  teaching  concerning  the 


258  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

uselessness  of  the  unprepared  in  assisting  the  needy.    Thus 
a  lesson  is  given  in  preparation  for  service. 

(7)  Matt;.  12;  Luke  6.  31.  The  Golden  Rule.  Matthew 
bases  it  on  the  ground  of  God's  acts  toward  us.  Luke 
makes  it  more  a  summary  of  the  requirement  of  love  than 
a  rule,  basing  it  on  human  sentiment.  Since  we  desire  to 
be  loved,  we  should  show  love  to  others. 

(8)  Alatt  7.  I3f.  is  to  be  contrasted  with  Luke  13.  24!!. 
Matthew  deals  with  scenes  of  garden  and  field,  Luke  with 
city  streets  and  houses.  In  Matthew  the  narrowness  of  the 
gate  is  a  reason  why  some  will  miss  it  unless  great  care  is 
exercised.  In  Luke  the  narrowness  of  the  door  falls  almost 
out  of  consideration,  for  here  the  real  danger  is  lest  the 
door  be  shut.  Yet  the  preservation  of  just  the  term  "narrow" 
is  a  literary  mark  of  the  common  origin  of  the  passages  in 
the  two  Gospels. 

(9)  Matt  7.  24fT. ;  Luke  6.  47ff.  The  man  who  built  a 
house.  They  have  a  common  source  upon  which  Matthew 
has  made  more  changes,  giving  greater  intensity  and  vivid- 
ness to  the  treatment.  Matthew  throws  the  tense  into  the 
future.  With  him  the  epithets  "wise"  and  "foolish"  are 
applied  at  the  start.  The  flood  or  stream  becomes  "floods," 
reenforced  by  wind  and  rain.  The  "earth"  of  Luke  be- 
comes "sand." 

For  those  who  hold  to  a  distinctive  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
as  reported  by  IVIatthew  and  Luke  there  remain  several 
obvious  questions.  First,  what  was  the  original  core  ?  Some 
would  select  from  Matthew  a  part  of  the  beatitudes,  also 
Matt  5.  i8f. ;  25f. ;  3if.,  which  describe  the  old  and  the  new 
ideal  of  righteousness,  with  Matt  7.24-27  as  a  closing  section. 
Others  would  add  various  teachings  from  chs.  6  and  7.  Most 
of  the  remaining  teaching,  as  suggested  by  Luke's  connec- 
tions and  its  own  differing  spirit,  would  be  from  other  dis- 
courses of  Jesus. 

Next  is  the  question  as  to  the  theme  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.     This  would  be  answered  variously.     Perhaps 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS  259 

most  would  say  that  it  is  indicated  in  the  Beatitudes.  The 
Ideal  Life,  the  New  Righteousness  have  also  been  suggested. 
As  to  the  total  impression  gained  from  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  in  such  a  collection  as  the  Sermon,  we  note  that  Jesus 
gave  popularly  intelligible  illustrations  of  the  spirit  that 
prevails  in  his  kingdom.  He  does  not  consider  in  detail  all 
the  abuses  needing  reform,  nor  does  he  Ust  all  the  virtues. 
He  seeks,  as  in  all  his  teaching,  to  introduce  and  recommend 
concretely  the  spirit  of  the  new  life  which,  if  positively 
possessed,  will,  by  displacement  of  evil,  work  the  salvation 
of  an  individual  or  of  society.  He  fulfills  the  best  in  the 
old  and  perfects  it.  His  words  are  not  so  much  rules  to 
follow  as  observations  of  the  great  interpreter.  A  beatitude, 
for  instance,  shows  the  necessary  connection  between  char- 
acter and  result.  Such  words  are  statements  of  moral 
facts  rather  than  attempts  at  legislation. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 
How  would  you  characterize  the  form  and  the  spirit  of  Jesus's 

teaching  as  seen  in  the  synoptics? 
Where  and  on  what  occasions  was  Jesus  apt  to  teach?     What 

of  his  manner  and  the  length  of  his   discourses? 
What    was    the    language    of    Jesus    and    to    what    group    of 

languages  did   it  belong? 
Compare  the  accounts  in   Matthew   and   Luke   of   the    Sermon 

on  the  Mount. 
Which   are   the   most   important   likenesses   and    differences    in 

the  two  accounts? 

6.  Make  a  thorough  comparison  of  the  two  sets  of  Beatitudes. 

7.  Locate   and   read   in   the   new   context    certain   passages    which 

Matthew  has  in  the  Sermon  but  Luke  has  outside  his  account 
of  the   Sermon. 

8.  Illustrate  ways  in  which  Luke's  historical  sense  served  him  in 

making  connections   for  passages. 

9.  Construct   what  you   think   the   original    core   of   the    Sermon 

may  have  been. 

10.  Try  stating  appropriate  themes  for  the   Sermon  in   Matthew ; 

in  Luke. 

11.  Make  a  compact  outline  of  the  Sermon  according  to  Matthev/. 

12.  What  would  be  the  main   topics  in  Matthew's  account? 


26o  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

13.  Make  a  brief  outline  of  Luke's  account  of  the  Sermon.     Can 

it  be  conformed  to  Matthew's  outline? 

14.  Summarize    and    estimate    the    quality    and    characteristics    of 

Jesus's  teaching. 

15.  Which  Gospel  appeals  to  you  as  the  most  satisfactory?    Why? 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL 

I.  The  following  sketch  of  the  contents  of  the  Gospel 
will  reveal  somewhat  of  its  plan  and  outline. 

The  Introduction,  i.  1-18,  is  a  mystical  and  somewhat  philo- 
sophical treatise  on  the  functions  of  the  eternal  Word  of  God  now 
manifest  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Witness  to  Jesus  Christ  by  John  the  Baptist,  1.  19-36. 

The  First  Disciples,  i.  37-51. 

In  Galilee,  2.  1-12;  Miracle  at  Cana ;  Visit  to  Capernaum. 

To  Jerusalem,  2.  13  to  3.  36;  Purifying  the  temple;  Nicodemus; 
Baptizing;  John  the  Baptist's  testimony. 

To  Galilee  (through  Samaria),  4.  1-54;  Woman  at  the  well  in 
Samaria;  Galilseans  receive  Jesus;  Nobleman's  son   (Capernaum). 

To  Jerusalem,  5.  1-47.  The  cripple  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda; 
Discourses ;  Sabbath-keeping ;  Life  from  the  Dead ;  The  testimony 
of  Scriptures. 

To  Galilee,  6.  i  to  7.  9,  Feeding  the  Multitude ;  Walking  on  the 
Sea;  Discourses  on  the  Bread  of  Heaven;  Certain  Disciples  Desert 
Him;  Hostility  of  Jews. 

To  Jerusalem,  7.  10  to  10.  39.  Feast  of  Tabernacles ;  Disputes 
with  Enemies;  (The  Writing  on  the  Ground);  Light  of  the 
World;  Disputes  with  Enemies;  Blind  Man  (at  Siloam)  ;  Disputes 
with  Enemies;  Good  Shepherd;  Disputes  with  Enemies;  Feast  of 
Dedication. 

Beyond  .  .  .  tJic  Jordan,  10.  40,  41. 

Back  .  .  .  to  Judcca,  11.  i  to  11.  53.  Lazarus;  Hostility  of 
Jewish  Council. 

To  Ephraiin,  11.  54. 

To  Bethany  and  Jerusalem,  12  to  20.  Anointing  by  Mary; 
Sought  by  Gentiles;  The  Approving  Voice  from  Heaven;  Judg- 
ment and  Light;  Last  Supper,  13;  Last  Discourses,  14,  15,  16; 
Prayer,  17;  Betrayal  and  Inquisition,  18;  Torture,  Crucifixion  and 
Burial,  19;  Resurrection,  20. 

Appendices,  21.  Appearances  of  Jesus,  21.  1-23;  Certification 
and  Conclusion,  21.  24f. 

261 


262  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

The  book  seems  to  have  an  appropriate  ending,  with  the 
last  verse  of  ch.  20.  The  author  stated  there  his  purpose  in 
writing-  the  book.  Even  ch.  21  has  three  good  closing 
verses — 2^,  24,  or  25.  Verse  24  is  the  testimony  of  a 
person  writing  later  than  the  author. 

2.  The  literary  style  of  the  fourth  Gospel  combines 
Hebrew  and  Greek  characteristics.  The  Hebraisms  are 
felt  in  the  succession  of  clauses  and  sentences  held  together 
by  the  simplest  conjunctions,  most  often  by  "and."  also  in 
the  tendency  to  parallel  structure  and  in  the  use  of  such 
phrases  as  "son  of  perdition"  and  "rejoice  with  joy,"  where 
we  should  use  adjectives  and  adverbs.  The  Greek  influence 
is  felt  not  only  in  the  comparative  ease  with  which  the 
Greek  language  is  used,  but  also  in  a  certain  abstract, 
philosophical  quality  imparted  to  the  discussion  of  the 
themes  of  the  book. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  dialogue  and  considerable 
allegory. 

The  introduction  is  vigorous,  dignified,  and  clear,  and  is 
in  especially  good  though  simple  Greek.  It  gives  the  pre- 
suppositions of  the  author's  thought  and  the  point  of  view 
in  the  development  of  the  book. 

The  author  has  made  careful  selection  of  his  material  and 
masses  it  with  telling  effect.  His  portrayal  of  the  life  of 
Jesus  is  along  the  lines  of  a  grand  contest  between  truth  and 
error,  light  and  darkness,  between  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
enemies.  The  book  has  much  of  the  spirit  of  a  debate. 
The  style  is  therefore  antithetical.  It  is  warmly  in  sympathy 
with  its  subject,  vivid  in  descriptive  power.  Notice,  for 
example,  the  story  of  the  woman  at  the  w-ell  in  Samaria, 
and  elsewhere  many  living  touches  of  custom,  place,  and 
allusion. 

In  spite  of  its  appearance  of  involved  discussion  there  is 
a  definiteness  and  straightforwardness  about  the  treatment 
that  never  lets  the  writer  lose  himself  or  his  point  before 
reaching  his  own   declaration   of  his  guiding  purpose  in 


THE   FOURTH   GOSPEL  263 

20.    31.      The    style    is,    however,   that   of   the    subjective 
interpreter  rather  than  of  the  objective  historian, 

3.  The  quaHty  of  the  thought  of  the  fourth  Gospel  is 
strongly  theological,  not  to  say  philosophical.  It  grasps  its 
conceptions  under  the  forms  of  impressive  symbols  and  is 
controlled  by  the  purpose  of  proving  certain  truths  about 
Jesus  Christ  which  will  lead  to  definite  belief  in  him.  This 
central  personality  of  the  book  is  conceived  as  an  eternal 
Being  who  is  identified  with  the  world-principle  called  the 
Word  which  was  in  the  beginning  with  God  and  by  which  all 
things  have  been  made.  First  he  existed  before  his  earthly 
career,  for  he  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  Second,  he 
became  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.  Third,  he  survived  death 
and  is  represented  among  his  disciples  by  his  Spirit,  who 
reveals  the  things  of  the  Christ  to  believers.  The  main 
body  of  the  Gospel  consists  of  the  explanations  and  proofs 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  this  Being,  the  eternal  Word,  and  of 
the  contests  of  the  Christ  with  the  opposition.  John  the 
Baptist  testified  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  and  Jesus  himself 
by  action  and  discussion  makes  the  claim  continuously  from 
the  beginning  of  the  book. 

4.  The  contrasts  between  the  fourth  Gospel  and  the 
synoptics  will  be  very  apparent  upon  a  comparison  of  the 
style  and  thought.  The  fourth  Gospel  has  a  different  out- 
line for  the  life  of  Jcsvis  Christ,  and  treats  of  but  a  com- 
paratively few  points  in  common  with  the  synoptics.  The 
subjective  quality  of  the  fourth  is  in  contrast  with  the  objec- 
tive nature  of  the  first  three  Gospels.  In  the  synoptics,  as 
in  the  Old  Testament,  the  narratives  provide  us  with  word 
pictures,  graphically  and  simply  put,  while  the  discourses 
remind  us  of  the  style  of  the  Wisdom  writers.  In  the  latest 
Gospel  the  style  is  more  subtle  and  reasoned,  reminding  us 
of  theological  discussion,  while  the  narratives  are  made  to 
serve  the  doctrinal  points. 

One  notable  instance  of  the  differing  order  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  is  the  purification  of  the  temple  from  the  mer- 


264  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

cenary  occupants  of  its  precincts.  This  is  one  of  the  few 
parallels  in  all  four  Gospels  (John  2.  13-22;  Mark  11. 
15-18;  Matt  21.  12-17;  Luke  19.  45-48).  It  was  clearly 
one  of  those  self-declarative  acts  of  authority  comporting 
with  the  Messianic  role.  In  John  the  incident  is  placed 
early  in  the  outline  of  the  "Life,"  coming  in  the  second 
chapter  of  the  Gospel,  while  in  the  others,  following  Mark's 
outline,  the  same  incident  is  put  comparatively  late.  Thus 
John  represents  Jesus  as  being  at  Jerusalem  early  in  his 
career,  while  the  other  three  Gospels  make  it  seem  that  the 
Judsean  ministry  came  late  as  the  climax  of  the  "Life"  and 
before  that  they  lay  stronger  emphasis  on  the  Galilsean 
ministry. 

The  manner  of  Jesus'  speaking,  the  words  and  substance 
of  his  discourses  are  more  probably  preserved  in  the  syn- 
optic Gospels  than  in  John.  In  the  synoptics  Jesus  is  repre- 
sented as  loth  to  permit  the  application  to  himself  of  the 
current  Jewish  Messianic  ideas.  The  temptations  seemed 
to  bring  near  to  him  just  those  popular  worldly  notions  of 
Messiahship  which  were  so  repugnant  to  his  spirit.  If  he 
accepted  the  Messianic  role  at  all,  it  was  only  late  in  his 
ministry,  when  he  had  assured  his  disciples  of  the  spiritual 
and  utterly  unworldly  manner  in  which  he  would  permit 
such  a  designation.  His  interest  was  in  doing  good  to 
the  people  by  deed  and  word  and  pointing  them  to  the 
heavenly  Father,  whose  will  was  their  government  and 
whose  grace  was  their  providence.  In  short,  telling  phrases, 
reminding  one  of  the  teachers  of  the  Wisdom  school,  he 
summoned  the  obedient  to  citizenship  in  the  heavenly 
kingdom.  But  in  John  he  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah  from 
the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry.  The  elaborate  and 
subtle  discourses  pointed  people  to  himself,  the  life  and 
the  light  of  the  world.  He  is  the  vine  that  holds  the 
branches.  He  is  the  water  of  life.  He  is  the  center  of  a 
mystical  imion  through  which  we  come  into  our  relationship 
with  the  Father. 


THE  FOURTH   GOSPEL  265 

•  It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  ideas  of  the  fourth  Gospel  made 
necessary  a  different  statement  of  certain  elements  in  the 
synoptics.  The  call  of  the  Son  as  emphasized  by  Mark 
(i.  9-1 1 )  would  not  be  appropriate  for  one  who  was  the 
preexistent  principle  of  salvation.  The  voice  of  approbation 
at  the  baptism  becomes  in  John  (i.  31-33)  a  word  certify- 
ing the  Christ  to  the  Baptist.  John  the  Baptist  is  there- 
after in  no  uncertainty  about  Jesus,  as  in  the  synoptics 
(Matt  II.  2,  3;  Luke  7.  19).  Of  course,  the  fourth  Gospel 
would  have  no  occasion  for  genealogies,  or  accounts  of 
the  birth,  infancy,  and  the  temptations. 

A  question  often  raised  concerning  this  book  is  whether 
any  historical  traditions  have  been  preserved  in  it  which 
correct  or  supplement  the  synoptic  accounts.  Many  would 
maintain  that  the  suggestion  in  John  of  a  longer  time  for 
the  ministry  of  Jesus  helps  to  correct  the  synoptic  tradition. 
It  is  also  claimed  that  the  date  of  the  crucifixion  is  more 
accurately  given  by  the  fourth  Gospel,  which  assigns  it  to 
the  day  of  the  passover  sacrifice. 

The  purpose  of  the  author  appears  to  be  plainly  stated 
in  20.  31 :  "These  are  written  that  ye  may  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing 
ye  may  have  life  in  his  name."  The  question  may  be 
asked,  Why  did  not  the  author  think  that  this  purpose  was 
served  by  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke?  The 
truth  is  that  the  Gospel  of  John  is  a  more  adequate  expres- 
sion of  what  Christianity  meant  to  the  early  church  of  the 
Greek  world. 

6.  A  discussion  of  the  date  and  place  of  origin  will 
bear  on  the  above  question.  The  fourth  Gospel  was  writ- 
ten evidently  in  a  world  where  there  was  intellectual  oppo- 
sition to  Christianity.  The  book  breathes  the  spirit  of  con- 
test. The  situation  is  in  the  Greek  world.  Although  the 
opponents  are  named  as  Jews,  yet  the  method  employed 
betrays  an  opposition  that  was  familiar  with  Hellenistic 
modes  of  thought.     We  may    arrange    the    New    Testa- 


266  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

ment  writings  in  an  order  that  will  show  the  widening 
scope  of  the  answer  of  Christianity  to  its  opponents,  Jewish 
and  otherwise.  For  example,  we  can  readily  see  how  Paul 
argued  his  way  with  his  more  Jewish  background  and 
training.  We  can  study  a  later  phase  of  the  contest  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  is  dependent  on  Paul,  but 
uses  a  more  Hellenistic  equipment  in  meeting  the  attack 
of  its  opponents.  In  John  we  have  a  still  later  response 
to  the  challenge  of  the  world's  hostility  and  it  is  dependent 
on  both  Paul  and  the  author  of  Plebrews. 

It  is  usually  believed  that  John  was  written  in  the  region 
of  Ephesus  in  Asia  Minor.  There,  where  Paul  had  labored 
so  fruitfully,  and  where  Christianity  must  have  been  fa- 
miliar with  Greek  culture  and  have  adopted  certain  ele- 
ments of  it,  about  lOO  A.  D.,  it  is  believed  this  book  was 
published.  The  author  would  not  find  the  first  three  Gospels 
a  complete  presentation  of  the  subject  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
belief  in  him.  Cultured  Jews  and  others  in  that  Greco- 
Roman  world,  whose  outlook  upon  life  and  its  problems 
was  more  philosophical,  would  best  be  reached  by  such  a 
Gospel  as  the  fourth. 

7.  So  far  as  we  now  know,  this  Gospel  was  first  attributed 
to  John  the  apostle  about  180  A.  D.  by  Theophilus  of  An- 
tioch.  It  became  the  traditional  opinion  that  the  book  was 
the  work  of  the  apostle  in  his  old  age,  when  residing 
at  Ephesus.  The  opinion  was  sustained  by  the  Jewish 
elements,  the  vividness  and  detail  of  narration  in  some 
parts,  and  the  passages  which  seemed  to  point  to  John,  as  19. 
35 ;  13.  23f. ;  21.  7,  20,  24.  ]\Iany  still  hold  to  the  Johannine 
authorship  of  the  book.  This  position  has  been  questioned 
because  of  the  abstract  character  of  Jesus's  discourses,  so 
different  from  his  simple,  practical  teaching  in  the  synop- 
tics;  the  differences  of  fact  from  the  synoptics;  and  the 
unique  interpretation  of  the  person  of  Christ.  The  book 
has  even  been  regarded  as  a  second-century  idealization 
of  Christ.     The  problem  is  yet  unsettled.     Many  scholars 


THE   FOURTH   GOSPEL  267 

take  a  mediating  position.  Whatever  the  ultimate  solution, 
all  students  must  agree  that  the  Gospel  contains  genuine 
Johannine  data.  The  religious  value  of  the  book  does 
not  depend  on  its  authorship,  but  on  its  spiritual  perception 
of  great  Christian  truths.  When  we  consider  the  literary 
excellence  and  the  spiritual  insight  of  this  Gospel,  we  arc 
prepared  to  appreciate  its  eminent  position  in  Christian 
thought. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  See   the   outline.      How    many   times    was   Jesus   at   Jerusalem 

according   to   John? 

2.  What   is   the   literary  style   of   the  book? 

3.  What   is   the  kind   of   thought? 

4.  Trace  a  unifying  idea  running  through  the  book  and  illustrate 

from  passages  selected. 

5.  Illustrate   from   selected   passages   the   subjective,   philosophical 

quality   of   the   work. 

6.  State  the  contrasts  with  the  synoptics  in  thought,  order,  style; 

in  the  impression  gained  of  the  manner  and  consciousness 
of  Jesus. 

7.  How  does  the  author's  purpose  explain  the  contrasts  of  ques- 

tion  6? 

8.  Discuss  the  improved  historical  data  to  be  found  in  John  as 

compared  with  the  synoptics. 

9.  How  can  the  date  and  place  of  origin  be  determined? 

10.  Where    in   John    is   the   first   quotation    from   Jesus?      Whose 

position  has  been  represented  by  what  has  preceded? 

11.  Read  i.  1-18  and  paraphrase  in  order  to  show  its  ideas.     How 

does  it  serve  to  introduce  the  Gospel?  Compare  its  service 
in  this  respect  with  the  introductions,  genealogies,  etc.,  of 
the  other  Gospels. 

12.  Read  6.  35-65.     What  is  Jesus's  teaching  about  himself? 

13.  Read    12.    36-50.      What   was   the    result    of    the    public    work 

of  Jesus? 

14.  Read  20.   26-31.     How   do  vv.   26-29  agree   with   the  purpose 

as  given  in  vv.  30,  31  ? 

15.  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  appcndi.x,  ch.  21? 


CHAPTER   VIII 

ACTS 

I.  The  Structure  of  the  Book.  It  is  composed  of  material 
from  different  sources  so  arranged  as  to  illustrate  the  ex- 
pansion of  Christianity  (compare  1.8): 

1.  The  life  and  activities  of  the  apostles  and  their  companions 
in  and  about  Jerusalem  (i  to  8.  la). 

II.  The  expansion  of  Christianity  throughout  Judaea  and  Sa- 
maria (8.  lb  to  II.  18). 

III.  The  expansion  in  the  regions  immediately  about  Palestine, 
to  Phoenicia,  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  etc.    (11.   19  to   12.  25). 

IV.  Paul's  journeys,  including  three  missionary  tours;  his  ar- 
rest at  Jerusalem  and  appeal  to  Rome    (13  to  28). 

2.  The  Sources.  The  author  of  Acts  used  three  groups 
of  source  material  which  may  be  mentioned  in  the  order 
of  their  importance  rather  than  in  the  order  in  which  they 
appear  in  the  book : 

I.  From  the  literary  point  of  view,  the  most  notable  parts  of 
the  book  are  certain  extracts  from  a  record  of  travels  which  are 
incorporated  in  the  descriptions  of  Paul's  journeys.  These  em- 
bedded passages  are  in  the  first  person  plural  ("we"),  and  for 
that  reason  are  often  referred  to  as  the  "we  sections."  They  are 
found  in  16.  10-17;  20.  5-15;  21.  1-8;  2y.  i  to  28.  16.  These  very 
valuable  passages  are  often  considered  as  the  work  of  the  author 
of  the  book,  who  took  them  from  his  own  diary,  he  being  gen- 
erally thought  of  as  Luke,  who  wrote  the  Gospel  to  which  he 
refers    in    i.    i. 

II.  The  same  writer  has  assembled  much  material  concerning 
the  activities  of  Paul,  which  makes  a  second  great  body  of  data  in 
Acts.     Most  of  this  is  found  from  ch.   13  on. 

III.  More  remote  from  the  author  was  a  third  group  of  source- 
materials,  used  largely  in  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  Acts.  Luke 
may  have  secured  these  data  from  oral  or  written  sources.  A  good 
opportunity  was   afforded   him   when   he    went   with    Paul   to    Pal- 

268 


ACTS  269 

estine,  though  he  would  not,  necessarily,  have  to  wait  until  such 
a  journey.  The  important  fact  is  that  Luke  knew  of  the  sub- 
jects of  the  first  part  of  the  book  less  directly  than  of  those 
treated  later  in  the  book. 

One  of  the  interesting  results  of  a  study  of  the  sources 
is  the  comparison  of  parallel  accounts  of  the  same  event. 
Acts  9.  7,  from  Luke's  source  III,  may  be  compared  with 
22.  9  and  with  26.  12-18,  which  are  from  his  source  IT 
There  is  a  plain  variation  which  was  never  harmonized  by 
the  author.  Other  duplicates,  not  all  of  them  from  differ- 
ing" sources,  however,  may  be  found.  Compare  9.  26-30 
with  22.  17-21 ;  10.  44  with  11.  15;  21.  20-26  with  24.  I7f. ; 
25.  9-1 1  with  28.  i8f.,  etc. 

3.  The  Historical  Picture  of  the  Early  Church  accord- 
ing to  Acts.  During  the  lifetime  of  Jesus  the  disciples 
may  have  believed  that  he  would  become  a  kingly  deliverer, 
according  to  their  Messianic  hope.  The  death  of  Jesus 
was  at  first  a  great  stumbling-block,  but  it  became  also 
the  starting-point  of  reflection,  and  hence  of  Christian  doc- 
trine. At  the  beginning  the  death  of  Jesus  was  chiefly 
viewed  as  the  result  of  a  crime  (Acts  2.  22f. ;  3.  13-15). 
But  God  had  defeated  the  criminals  by  raising  Jesus  (Acts 
2.  24;  3.  15).  The  resurrection  showed  that  Jesus  was 
the  Messiah  (Acts  2.  25-32;  see  Luke  24.  I9ff.)  ;  but  still 
the  disciples  failed  to  grasp  the  deeper  moral  significance 
of  Jesus  and  held  to  the  Messianic,  apocalyptic  program. 
They  believed  he  would  return  (Acts  i.  lof.),  and  at  first 
they  were  disposed  to  do  little  until  he  came.  Then  there 
developed  the  idea  that  they  were  to  witness  for  him  until 
he  should  come.  Peter  appeared  as  the  chief  witness  to 
the  fact  that  Jesus  was  the  Lord's  anointed  {Christ os) 
and  the  title  "Christ"  was  affixed  to  the  name  "Jesus," 
making  a  new  name,  "Jesus  Christ,"  which  was  thereafter 
commonly  used  of  him.  The  witnesses  declared  the  proofs 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  and  attested  the  fact  by  signs 
and  miracles. 


270  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Not  until  they  were  forced  by  practical  necessity  did 
the  early  Christians  look  after  the  administration  of  the 
business  of  the  early  society  by  appointing-  stewards.  Their 
first  plans  for  these  matters  fell  to  pieces  or  were  modi- 
fied as  the  expected  return  of  Christ  was  delayed.  But  a 
wider  and  more  spiritual  grasp  of  Christianity  was  soon 
possible.  It  is  significant  that  one  of  the  stewards  of  the 
community  was  perhaps  the  earliest  to  preach  a  gospel 
that  was  interpreted  as  being  against  Moses  and  God,  which 
probably  means  that  Stephen  spoke  against  the  prevail- 
ing Messianic  notions  about  Jesus  and  the  servile  following 
of  the  traditional  religion. 

The  second  half  of  the  book  may  be  described  as  the 
Pauline  epic,  in  which  the  heroic  adventures  of  the  great 
apostle  are  told. 

The  impressions  gained  from  Acts  contrast  sometimes 
with  the  accounts  derived  from  Paul's  letters.  We  find 
no  trace  in  Acts  of  the  misunderstandings  between  Paul 
and  the  churches  in  Galatia  and  Corinth.  Traces  of  sharp 
contention  in  which  Paul  treated  his  foes  summarily  are 
found  in  the  letters  to  Galatia  and  Corinth,  but  they  are 
either  unknown  to  the  author  of  Acts  or  are  omitted.  (See 
Gal  4.  17;  5.  7,  10,  12;  2  Cor  10.  i4f.;  11.  13-15,  18,  23; 
also  compare  Acts  9.  26-30  with  Gal  i.  17-24;  15.  1-33  with 
Gal  2.  i-io;  15.  35-39  with  Gal  2.  iif. 

4.  What  was  Luke's  purpose?  Perhaps  to  show  the 
providential  origin  and  progress  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Acts  i.  8  is  often  taken  as  the  key  to  the  author's 
outline  and  purpose,  "witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
all  Judaea  and  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of 
the  earth."  Acts  4.  32a,  "one  heart  and  soul,"  has  some- 
times been  pointed  out  as  a  motto  for  the  book  and  as  re- 
flecting the  author's  purpose  to  write  a  history  that  would 
emphasize  the  unity  of  the  church. 

Others  believe  that  this  book  was  written  as  a  represen- 
tation of  Christianity  to  the   Roman  world,   and  that  the 


ACTS  271 

author  purposely  avoided  any  cause  of  offense.  Cer- 
tainly, the  picture  of  Paul,  the  Roman  citizen,  is  skillfully 
drawn,  and  no  condemnation  of  Christians  by  the  Roman 
government  is  allowed  to  darken  the  narrative. 

5.  The  date  must  be  later  than  that  of  the  Gospel,  but 
probably  not  much  later.  Acts  i.  i  refers  to  the  Gospel  as 
"the  former  treatise."  The  mere  fact  that  Paul's  death 
is  not  recorded  would  not  count  in  determining  the  date, 
as  it  is  apparently  part  of  the  writer's  purpose  to  spare 
any  mention  that  would  reflect  on  the  attitude  of  the  Roman 
government  to  Christianity. 

6.  Luke  had  the  clearest  idea  of  a  literary  and  historical 
task  of  any  writer  in  the  New  Testament.  His  dedication, 
introduction,  plan,  and  spirit  of  composition  are  very  like 
the  contemporaneous  Greek  and  Roman  authors.  Luke 
and  Acts  may  have  been  more  widely  circulated  among 
cultured  readers  than  other  New  Testament  writings,  since 
this  author,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  day,  addressed 
his  works  to  a  patron,  Theophilus,  presumably  a  wealthy 
and  influential  man,  and  it  was  the  expectation  that  such 
patrons  would  become  responsible  for  the  proper  distri- 
bution of  the  books. 

Certainly,  our  author  exhibited  a  calm  and  irenic  man- 
ner and  in  both  his  works  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the 
reading  world  in  favor  of  his  church. 

TOPICS   AND   ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  are  the  main   points   in  the  outline  of  Acts? 

2.  Where  did  the  writer  get  his  data?     How  did  it  differ? 

3.  What    was    the    subject    of    Luke's    least-known    source?      In 

which    part    of    the    book    is    it    found? 

4.  What    early    Christian    ideas    are    preserved    in    Acts? 

5.  Sketch  the  lines  of  early  church  development  from  the  book. 

6.  What   purpose  led   the   author   to   write   the   work? 

7.  How  do  Luke  and  Acts  compare  with  other  New  Testament 

books   in   literary  plan   and   execution? 

8.  Read  the  speeches  in  Acts  attributed  to   Peter,   Stephen,  and 


272  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

Paul,  and  give  your  estimate  of  the  author's  skill   in  keep- 
ing to  the  characteristic  differences  represented  by  those  three 
persons. 
g.     Analyze    Stephen's   defense    in   ch.    7.       Give   the   outline   and 
course  of  thought. 

10.  In  chs.   I  to  10  how  does  the  writer  show  that  the  expansion 

of   the   church    from   Jerusalem   into   the   Gentile   world   was 
under    divine    guidance? 

11.  Look    through    the    "we    sections"    and    find    what    parts    of 

Paul's  journeys  they   cover. 

12.  Read  ch.  27,  noting  the  vividness  of  personal  recollection. 


CHAPTER    IX 
THE  PAULINE  LETTERS 

Earliest  of  the  writings  in  the  New  Testament  were 
the  PaiiHne  letters.  They  are  not  to  be  called  books  in 
the  literary  sense  as  are  the  Gospels,  for  instance,  or  such 
a  writing  as  Hebrews.  They  are  indeed  letters  and  can 
best  be  appreciated  when  one  recognizes  this  fact.  To  call 
them  genuine  letters  is  the  same  as  saying  that  they  are 
the  spontaneous  outflowing  of  the  apostle's  mingled  thought 
and  feeling  responding  to  a  situation  full  of  emergencies 
and  of  insistent  claims  on  his  attention.  In  these  letters 
Paul  struck  out  at  a  real  situation  which  caused  him  to 
feel  intensely  and  to  speak  vigorously.  We  may  picture 
him  with  a  secretary  sitting  near  while  the  great  man  spoke 
the  contents  of  the  letter  to  be  taken  down. 

Paul  was  a  breaker  of  new  roads,  an  explorer,  the  first 
typical  missionary  of  Christianity.  He  stirred  up  many 
difficult  problems  for  which  precedents  were  rarely  to  be 
had.  He  was  often  misunderstood ;  he  was  greatly  hated 
as  well  as  greatly  loved.  He  was  a  positive  personality 
and  filled  the  spiritual  atmosphere  with  electric  currents 
of  discussion.  No  church  that  he  founded  may  have  been 
able  to  grasp  Paul's  ideas  and  their  implications  without 
further  aid  from  the  very  original  mind  that  had  so  greatly 
stimulated  their  religious  and  ethical  zeal. 

If,  then,  we  recognize  clearly  that  these  were  letters  that 
Paul  wrote  and  not  treatises  or  books,  and,  further,  that 
several  of  them  were  written  at  white  heat  and  all  of  them 
in  intense  earnestness,  we  shall  find  more  truly  their  real 

273 


274  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

contents  and  spare  ourselves  the  discovery  of  things  that 
were  never  there. 

It  is  common  to  reckon  the  PauHne  letters  as  numbering 
thirteen,  and  to  date  them  somewhere  between  50  and  70 
A.  D.  More  precise  dates  and  variants  from  these  may 
be  discussed  properly  as  each  letter  is  studied.  There  may 
be  hints  here  or  there  of  lost  letters  of  Paul. 

As  to  authorship,  in  general  there  is  practically  no  dis- 
pute that  we  need  to  consider  concerning  Galatians,  Romans 
and  First  and  Second  Corinthians  and  also  Philemon  and 
Philippians.  There  is  variant  opinion  touching  First  and 
Second  Thessalonians,  considerably  more  diversity  of  opin- 
ion regarding  Ephesians  and  Colossians,  and  even  more 
touching  Titus  and  First  and  Second  Timothy,  at  least  in 
their  present  form.  But  these  questions  too  may  be  more 
precisely  dealt  with  in  the  case  of  each  letter  as  we  read  it. 

As  to  style  in  general,  First  and  Second  Thessalonians 
are  the  simplest  in  form,  Galatians  the  most  impetuous 
and  fiery,  Romans  the  most  elaborate,  and  Ephesians  and 
Colossians  the  most  involved  and  difficult  in  rhetorical  struc- 
ture. 

As  already  suggested,  all  these  letters  were  probably 
dictated,  except,  possibly,  Philemon  and  a  small  part  of 
Galatians,  Gal  6.  iiff.  Paul  usually  authenticated  his  let- 
ters by  adding  a  few  words  with  his  own  hand.  See  2  Thess 
3.  17;  I  Cor  16.  21-24;  Col  4.  18.  Nine  of  the  thirteen 
were  to  churches  and  four  to  men,  though  Philemon  is 
the  only  private  letter. 

A  common  division  of  the  letters  is  that  which  divides 
them  in  order  as  follows : 

„        .     ,  (   I  Thessalonians 

Practical  group     i       r^,         ^     ■ 

I  2  Thessalonians 

Galatians 
Romans 
Doctrinal  group    ^  ^  Corinthians 

2  Corinthians 


THE  PAULINE  LETTERS  275 

Philemon 

_  .  ,  Colossians 

Prison  group         ^  Ephesians 

Philippians 

I  Timothy 
Pastoral  group      ^   2  Timothy 
Titus 

It  is  easy  to  criticize  this  classification,  since  others  be- 
sides the  first  two  are  exceedingly  practical  in  parts,  though 
not  nearly  as  exclusively  so  as  the  Thessalonian  letters, 
which  are  simple  and  contain  little  doctrine,  and  that 
chiefly  about  one  matter — the  second  coming  of  Christ. 
Others  besides  the  second  group  are  doctrinal ;  for  instance, 
Ephesians  and  Colossians.  Of  course  the  designation 
"Prison  Epistles"  is  not  a  qualitative  classification,  but  it 
serves  vv^ell  to  distinguish  the  four  which  are  meant,  though 
those  four  are  the  least  like  each  other  of  the  members  of 
any  group.  Pastoral  is  a  fair  indication  of  the  contents  of 
the  fourth  group  which  deal  with  parish  administration. 

A  common  system  of  dating  these  groups  is  the  following: 

I.  Practical,  53  A.  D. 

II.  Doctrinal,  56-8  A.  D. 

III.  Prison,  62-3   A.   D. 

IV.  Pastoral,  ±-65  A.  D. 

The  main  disagreements  with  these  rough  dates  would  be 
in  the  case  of  those  who  would  make  Galatians  the  first 
of  the  letters  of  Paul  and  date  it  nearer  50  A.  D.,  and  of 
those  who  dispute  the  PauHne  authorship  of  Ephesians 
and  Colossians  and  the  Pastorals  and  date  them  consid- 
erably later. 

We  need  a  little  historic  and  personal  background  for 
the  study  of  these  letters.  Paul's  conversion  was  probably 
not  far  from  35  A.  D.  He  had  been  born  in  Asia  Minor 
(Tarsus)  and  educated  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  He  was 
a  rare  combination  of  a  great  mystic  and  a  very  practical 


276  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

man.  Throughout  hfe  he  thought  about  many  things  in 
the  fashion  of  a  carefully  trained  Jew.  The  great  revolu- 
tion in  his  life  and  thought  was  on  the  point  as  to  how  a 
man  becomes  truly  pleasing-  to  God,  that  is,  becomes  right- 
eous. Before  he  became  a  Christian  he  thought  that  the 
goal  of  righteousness  must  be  reached  by  the  punctilious 
keeping  of  every  requirement  of  the  Mosaic  law.  After  his 
conversion  he  believed  that  it  was  attained  by  the  renewing 
power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  which  entered  the  personality 
and  helped  it  to  live  a  new  life.  This  saving  Spirit  he  be- 
lieved to  be  the  same  as  the  ascended,  eternal  Christ  whom 
God  had  raised  from  the  dead  and  by  whom  God  was  rais- 
ing every  believer  to  spiritual  life  from  sinful  deadness. 
This  experience  and  belief  of  Paul  became  the  core  of  his 
preaching  and  was  considered  by  many  a  dangerously  lib- 
eral doctrine.  Hebrew  Christians  frequently  became  Paul's 
bitter  enemies,  because  they  thought  that  he  cut  away 
the  foundations  of  real  religion,  while  Paul  contended  that 
he  really  established  the  only  possible,  practical  religion. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  How  much  earlier  than  the  Gospels  were  Paul's  letters  written? 

2.  Explain  fully  the  differences  between  these  letters  and  books. 

3.  What  better  revelation  of  personalities   and  events  may  come 

to  us  through  books  and  in  what  respects  are  books  better? 

4.  Find  the  positions  of  several   modern  writers  with   respect  to 

the  dates  of  the  Pauline  letters. 

5.  Concerning  which   letters  is  there  least   dispute  as  to   author- 

ship?     Concerning   which    is   there    most   question? 

6.  In  which  letters  is  there  evidence  of  Paul's  own  handwriting? 

7.  Write  on  the  topic,  "Letter-writing  in  the  Greco-Roman  World." 

8.  Make  a  summary  of  the  Life  and  Missionary  Journeys  of  Paul. 


CHAPTER   X 
THESSALONIANS 

TiiESSALONicA  (now  Salotiiki),  a  city  of  Macedonia,  is 
situated  on  one  of  the  bays  of  the  ^gean  Sea.  Paul 
reached  the  place  during  his  second  missionary  tour  (Acts 
17.  iff.)  in  company  with  Silas  and  Timothy.  They  went 
to  the  Jewish  synagogue,  where  the  teaching  of  Paul  led 
to  a  division  among  the  worshipers.  After  a  few  weeks  Paul 
and  his  disciples  were  forced  to  leave  the  synagogue, 
and  they  formed  a  separate  society  with  whom  Paul  re- 
mained some  time  (Phil  4.  16;  i  Thess  2.  9;  2.  Thess  3.  8). 
The  quarrel  between  the  synagogue  and  the  church  resulted 
in  riots,  which  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  city  until  it  seemed 
wise  to  the  Christians  to  send  Paul  and  Silas  away  secretly 
to  continue  their  missionary  tour  to  Berea,  Athens,  and 
Corinth. 

While  a  number  of  Jews  became  members  of  the  new 
society  in  Thessalonica,  the  majority  was  probably  Greek. 
Severe  persecution  continued  against  the  Christians,  but 
they  were  very  firm,  and  it  was  a  cause  of  much  satis- 
faction to  Paul  to  hear  of  the  loyalty  and  steadfastness  of 
the  little  church  at  Thessalonica. 

In  chs.  I,  2,  and  3  of  i  Thess  Paul  poured  out  mingled 
gratification  and  reminiscence.  They  offer  a  good  example 
of  his  methods  in  founding  a  new  church  and  of  the 
warmth  of  affection  in  which  he  held  his  converts. 

Chapters  4  and  5  deal  with  miscellaneous  subjects — 
morality,  mutual  consideration,  industry,  the  second  com- 
ing of  the  Lord,  and  disciplinary  suggestions  for  the  fel- 
lowship. 

277 


278  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

Perhaps  the  matter  of  keenest  concern  to  his  readers — 
it  has  certainly  been  so  to  modern  students  who  have  often 
seen  in  it  the  occasion  for  the  letter — was  the  passage  4.  13 
to  5.  II.  This  divides  into  two  parts.  The  first  seems  to 
be  an  answer  to  the  distress  of  mind  which  the  Thessa- 
lonians  suffered  concerning  certain  of  those  who  had  died 
since  the  founding  of  the  society.  Evidently,  the  Thessa- 
lonians  had  gathered  from  Paul's  preaching  that  the  Ad- 
vent of  the  Lord  might  be  expected  soon  and  had  not 
calculated  with  death  as  a  possibility  before  the  "Coming." 
They  were  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to  interpret  the  death  of 
loved  ones,  and  may  have  thought  that  such  events  sig- 
nified the  displeasure  of  heaven  toward  the  deceased  and 
their  exclusion  from  the  redemption  that  was  coming.  Paul 
reassured  those  anxious  friends,  telling  them  that  the  de- 
ceased, so  far  from  being  disqualified  for  the  Great  Day, 
would  be  raised  to  life  at  that  time  and  would  precede  the 
living  saints  in  the  assembly  that  would  greet  the  Lord 
(4.  13-18). 

Chapter  5.  i-ii  proceeds  to  exhort  the  Thessalonians  to 
be  ready  at  all  times  by  exemplary  life  and  discipline,  lest 
the  second  coming  should  take  them  by  surprise  and  there 
be  sudden  loss,  as  when  a  thief  surprises  a  household  in  the 
night. 

The  traditional  view  of  the  occasion  of  the  second  let- 
ter to  the  Thessalonians  is  that  Paul's  first  letter  had  been 
misunderstood  in  its  treatment  of  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  Perhaps  a  fanatical  enthusiasm  had  seized  upon 
such  a  passage  as  i  Thess  5.  2  and  confusion  had  resulted 
in  which  no  distinction  was  made  between  the  near  coming 
of  the  Lord  and  the  unexpectedness  or  suddenness  of  the 
coming. 

In  2  Thess  2  and  3  warning  is  given  that  much  must  neces- 
sarily precede  the  Advent  of  the  Lord,  and  that  there  must 
be  no  disorder  or  idleness  meanwhile. 

The  second  letter  is  much  shorter  than  the  first,  but  the 


I. 

I 

Greeting 

I.  1,2 

I. 

2-IO 

Praise  of  Thessalonians 

I-  3,4 

2. 

I-I3 

Reminiscence 

(compare 

2. 

14-16 

Reflections  on  Persecutors 

I.  5-12 

2. 

17  to  3 

•  13 

Main  Theme 

2.   1-16 

4- 

I  to  5. 

22 

Second  Part  of  Letter 

3-   1-15 

5- 

23-28 

Closing 

3-   16,  17 

THESSALONIANS  279 

outline  and  contents  are  strikingly  similar.    Note  the  follow- 
ing comparison : 

First  Thessalonians  Second  Thessalonians 


I.    IOC.) 


The  substantial  contrasts  in  the  outlines  above  are  to  be 
found  in  the  main  theme  and  in  the  second  part  of  each 
epistle. 

These  two  letters  are  simple,  straightforward,  affectionate 
letters  of  commendation  and  warning.  So  far  as  there  is 
any  theological  doctrine  included,  it  is  that  brought  out  by  the 
emergency  of  the  people's  persecutions  and  fears.  In  keep- 
ing with  this  fact  is  the  strong  apocalyptic  element  in  the 
letters.  Otherwise  the  teaching  is  purely  ethical  and  mon- 
itory. 

Critical  opinion  has  rarely  been  opposed  to  the  Pauline 
authorship  of  First  Thessalonians.  The  letter  seems  thor- 
oughly appropriate  to  the  situation  described  in  Acts  and 
reflected  in  its  own  allusions.  To  be  sure,  2.  16  has  been 
made  by  certain  to  refer  to  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  in  70 
A.  D.,  but  better  criticism  seems  to  make  it  reasonable 
that  Paul  himself  makes  the  reference  and  therefore  that 
it  cannot  be  to  that  late  event.  Others  have  treated  it 
as  an  interpolation. 

More  doubt  has  been  expressed  concerning  the  authen- 
ticity of  Second  Thessalonians.  It  seems  to  some  obviously 
modeled  on  First  Thessalonians  and  much  later  in  general 
tone.  Still  other  critics  have  placed  its  date  before  First 
Thessalonians.  It  has  been  claimed  that  its  references  are 
too  specifically  Jewish  to  be  addressed  to  a  congregation 
dominantlv  Greek,  but  answer  has  been  made  that  the  He- 


28o  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

brew  portion  of  the  church  at  Thessalonica  was  probably 
large  enough  to  warrant  special  attention. 

We  date  the  letters  about  53  A.  D.  and  retain  the  cus- 
tomary order  for  them. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Read  the  story  in  Acts  of  Paul's  experiences  at  Thessalonica. 

2.  How  do  these  letters  illustrate  the  bond  between  Paul  and  his 

converts  ? 

3.  Read  First  Thessalonians,  noting  (a)  the  information  about  the 

church,   its  good  points   and  bad,    (b)    about   Paul,    (r)    his 
advice  to  the  Thessalonians. 

4.  In   I   Thess  4.    13-18  what  is  the  problem?     What  was   Paul's 

solution?    What  was  his  expectation  as  to  the  time  of  Christ's 
coming? 

5.  Read  2  Thess  2.  1-12  and  write  out  a  statement  of  Paul's  expec- 

tation for  the  future. 

6.  Questions  of  date  and  place  of  origin. 


CHAPTER    XI 

LETTER  TO   THE  GALATIANS 

I.  There  still  exists  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
location  of  the  churches  addressed  in  this  letter.  The  diffi- 
culty is  to  determine  the  usage  of  the  term  "Galatia"  in  Acts 
and  in  Paul's  letters.  Anciently  there  was  a  region  in  the 
northern  part  of  Asia  Minor  known  as  the  kingdom  of  the 
Gauls,  or  Galatia.  The  cities  Ancyra,  Tavium,  and  Pessinus 
were  in  it.  Later  when  the  Roman  government  formed 
the  province  of  Galatia  it  embraced  not  only  the  country  of 
Galatia  but  other  territory  extending  to  the  southern  part  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  included,  in  addition  to  the  above  named, 
Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Iconium,  Derbe,  and  Lystra.  This  group 
of  cities  is  mentioned  in  chs.  13  and  14  of  Acts,  which 
describes  Paul's  first  known  missionary  tour.  Christian 
societies  were  probably  formed  in  them,  and  Acts  16.  1-5 
tells  of  Paul's  return  to  the  region  to  instruct  and  strengthen 
the  converts.  Acts  16.  6  and  18.  23  are  the  only  verses  in 
the  New  Testament  that  might  suggest  activities  of  Paul 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  province  where  the  old  country 
of  Galatia  was  situated.  It  would  appear  from  18.  23  that 
he  found  Christians  there  to  be  helped.  These  may  have 
been  the  result  of  religious  ministry  at  the  time  of  Acts  16.  6, 
though  the  impression  would  be  that  that  was  a  rapid  passage 
through  some  portion  of  the  country,  and  that  he  may  not 
have  tarried  to  speak  his  message.  Whether  the  journey 
touched  any  of  the  cities,  Ancyra,  Tavium,  and  Pessinus, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  The  holders  of  the  North- 
Galatian  theory  of  the  destination  of  Paul's  letter  to  the 
Galatians  claim  that  Acts  16.  6  refers  to  the  time  when  Paul 
founded  societies  in  the  northern  cities,  and  that  Acts  18.  23 
refers  to  the  time  when  he  revisited  and  strengthened  them. 


282  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

The  holders  of  the  South-Galatiaii  theory  of  the  destination 
maintain  that  the  churches  referred  to  in  Galatians  are 
Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Iconium,  Derbe,  and  Lystra,  etc.,  where 
Christianity  was  founded  as  described  so  circumstantially  in 
Acts  13  and  14. 

Fortunately,  this  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  location  of 
the  persons  addressed  by  the  apostle  does  not  prevent  the 
successful  interpretation  of  the  letter,  since  the  state  of 
mind  of  both  the  readers  and  the  sender  is  so  clearly 
discernible. 

2.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  location  of  the  Galatia 
referred  to  lessens  the  certainty  as  to  the  date  and  place  of 
writing  the  letter.  For  if  the  South  Galatian  theory  is 
accepted,  the  Galatian  churches  were  founded  during  Paul's 
first  missionary  journey,  but  if  the  North-Galatian  theory, 
during  his  second.  We  may  say  tentatively  that  Paul  may 
have  written  it  from  Corinth  about  57  A.  D.  Certain 
scholars,  however,  put  its  date  much  nearer  50  A.  D.,  and 
hold  that  it  was  the  first  letter  of  Paul.  For  this  a  strong 
argument  can  be  made. 

3.  The  occasion  for  the  letter  is  described  within  it.  Paul, 
who  had  the  first  right  to  reverence  and  a  following  among 
these  churches  which  he  had  founded,  was  being  attacked 
in  his  absence  by  interlopers  who  maligned  him  and  his 
motives.  It  would  seem  from  the  letter  that  these  enemies 
were  more  Jewish  than  Christian  in  their  sympathies  and 
that  they  had  come  from  outside,  perhaps  from  Judsea,  on 
purpose  to  undo  what  they  considered  Paul's  faulty  and 
insufficient  gospel.  Their  method  was  first  to  destroy  con- 
fidence in  Paul's  right  to  teach  as  a  Christian  apostle,  and, 
second,  to  indoctrinate  the  converts  in  the  traditions  and 
ritual  of  the  Jews  as  a  prerequisite  to  Christianity.  In  brief, 
while  Paul  preached  the  possibility  of  direct  access  to  God 
and  a  religious  life  by  trusting  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  opponents 
preached  that  only  in  conformity  to  Jewish  law  and  ritual 
could  anyone  be  a  child  of  God.     It  was  a  contest  between 


LETTER  TO  TFIE  GALATIANS  283 

the  religion  of  the  Spirit  and  of  simple  faith  on  the  one 
hand  and  a  religion  of  ritual  and  of  law  on  the  other.  Paul 
felt  that  the  two  positions  were  irreconcilable  and  threw 
himself  into  the  crisis  with  great  intensity. 

Acts  15.  I  to  16.  5  may  be  compared  with  Gal  i  and  2  to 
see  the  contrasting  impressions  given  of  Paul's  agreement 
with  the  methods  and  spirit  of  the  older  Christians  at 
Jerusalem. 

4.  The  letter  may  be  divided  into  three  main  sections, 
as  follows : 

I.     I.  I  to  2.  21.    Personal:  The  defense  of  his  apostleship. 
II.     3.  I  to  5.  12.     Polemical :  The  explanation  of  his  teaching. 

III.  5.  13  to  6.  18.  Practical :  The  application  of  his  teaching  to 
life. 

In  Section  I,  Paul  with  his  companions  saluted  the  Gala- 
tian  congregations  in  the  grace  and  peace  of  the  heavenly 
Father  and  of  the  Messianic  Lord.  Paul  was  astounded  by 
the  threatened  apostasy  of  the  Galatians.  With  sharp, 
decisive  statements  he  leveled  the  pretensions  of  any  other 
gospel.  He  vigorously  defended  his  own  apostleship  against 
the  Judaizers  who  questioned  it.  His  gospel  was  no  tradi- 
tion but  a  revelation  from  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  the  one  time 
ravager  of  Christian  churches  had,  in  the  purpose  of  God, 
become  a  missionary  of  the  faith  he  had  formerly  perse- 
cuted. In  pursuance  of  the  heavenly  commission,  Paul 
preached  the  faith  unaided  by  any  promptings  from  the 
other  apostles.  Those  apostles  had  recognized  his  authority 
as  Christ's  representative  to  the  non-Jewish  world.  With 
dignity  and  justice  (2.  11 -21)  Paul  withstood  the  vacil- 
lating policy  of  Cephas  (Peter)  and  other  Christians  in  a 
memorable  dispute  at  Antioch  in  Syria  on  the  question  of 
fellowship  between  Jewish  and  non-Jewish  Christians.  The 
issue  involved  was  larger  than  it  seemed  at  first.  The  real 
question  bore  upon  the  relative  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
of  Jewish  legalism  as  methods  of  obtaining  righteousness 
and  salvation. 


284  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

In  Section  11,  Paul  told  his  readers  that  it  was  only  the 
dullest  folly  that  would  choose  the  fruitless  humdrum  of  the 
Mosaic  law  instead  of  the  Christ,  as  if  one  should  surrender 
the  spiritual  for  the  dead.  From  the  time  of  Abraham,  it 
was  now  clear,  faith  had  been  the  real  way  of  salvation  even 
among  the  Hebrews.  The  Jewish  law  had  been  a  temporary 
expedient.  It  was  as  a  hand  pointing  the  discouraged  to 
Jesus  Christ. 

In  4.  1-7  Paul  used  two  figures  to  explain  why  the  merely 
provisional  nature  of  the  law  had  not  been  grasped  before. 
First,  he  says,  people  were  as  minors,  not  yet  of  age,  and, 
secondly,  people  were  as  aliens,  who  were  to  become  sons 
only  upon  adoption.  The  proof  of  present  sonship  is  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  within  us  uttering  "Father." 
In  4.  8-12  it  is  shown  that  as  idolaters  the  Galatians  might 
be  excused,  but  not  since  the  light  had  come.  He  exhorted 
them  to  stand  firm  with  him  in  Christ.  In  4.  21-31  Paul 
illustrated  by  an  allegory  the  mutually  exclusive  nature  of 
Christ  and  the  law  by  the  contrasts — 

free  child  and  slave. 
Sarah  and  Hagar. 

Jerusalem   above   and    Sinai-Jerusalem. 
Spirit    (promise)    and  flesh, 
heir  and  outcast. 

In  5.  1-12  is  revealed  that  to  come  under  the  system  of 
legalism  is  to  nullify  the  effect  of  Christ  upon  us.  In  Christ 
only  is  there  possibility  of  righteousness.  Circumcision 
(ritual  performance)  is  not  the  way.  Christianity  is  to  be 
sought  in  another  way.  It  consists  of  that  vital  experience 
which  we  call  faith  and  is  evidenced  by  love.  This  was 
understood  by  the  Galatians  once,  and  Paul  said  that  he  did 
not  believe  that  they  were  really  now  of  a  different  mind. 

In  Section  III  Paul  reminded  his  readers  that  they  had 
been  called  into  a  new  life  of  freedom,  but  that  liberty  must 
not  be  allowed  to  become  license.  The  one  defense  against 
sensuality  is  spirituality.    Those  who  are  in  earnest  for  the 


LETTER  TO  THE  GALATIANS  285 

latter  cannot  temporize  with  the  former.  Be  humble  and 
tender  in  helping  those  of  weak  morals.  Take  their  burden 
on  yourselves,  and,  yet,  responsibility  is  ultimately  on  the 
individual.  In  6.  6ff.  they  were  told  to  be  generous,  un- 
wearying, benevolent,  assured  that  cause  is  sure  to  produce 
its  effect.  Chapter  6.  iiff.  shows  that  those  who  tried  to 
proselyte  the  Galatian  Christians  would  not  bear  very  close 
scrutiny  either  as  to  accomplishments  or  motives.  They 
wished  a  chance  to  exult  over  the  Galatians,  but  when  the 
apostle  gloried  it  was  in  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  his 
Lord  which  separated  forever  between  the  superficial  worldly 
regime  and  himself.  The  real  object  is  not  to  become  satis- 
factory according  to  a  ritual  but  to  be  regenerated.  Blessed 
are  those  who  see  this. 

5.  The  whole  argument  of  the  Galatian  letter  is  to  prove 
the  sufficiency  of  faith  for  the  Christian  life  and  the  certain 
disappointment  in  any  other  method  or  means.  Christian 
faith,  according  to  the  Pauline  teaching,  actually  unites  the 
believer  with  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  possession  and  out- 
working of  the  indwelling  spirit  of  Christ.  Paul  explained 
the  subject  further  in  the  letters  to  the  Romans  and  Corin- 
thians. 

6.  Two  aspects  of  Paul's  religion  are  indicated  in  Gala- 
tians. The  letter  shows  his  prophetic  insight  and  fervor, 
which  enabled  him  to  speak  words  of  great  importance  for 
the  religious  life  of  people  in  any  age.  It  shows  also  his 
training  in  the  learning  and  methods  of  the  rabbis.  Notable 
instances  of  this  latter  type  are  such  passages  as  3.  16  and 
4.  22-31.  The  reader  should  distinguish  the  two  elements 
in  the  letter. 

7.  The  crucial  importance  of  the  Galatian  controversy 
for  the  young  religious  fellowship  of  Christians  can  hardly 
be  overestimated.  Paul  rightly  felt  that  the  questions  in- 
volved were  fundamental  to  the  very  life  of  the  Christian 
societies  which  in  many  places  were  separating  from  the 
synagogues  and  in  others  were  being  formed  from  sheer 


286  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

heathenism.  The  Hterary  effect  of  Paul's  emotion  may  be 
felt  in  the  fiery  intensity  of  the  manner  and  style  of  the 
letter. 

8.  The  style  is  rapid,  argumentative,  emotional.  There 
is  a  rough,  natural  eloquence,  with  abrupt  transitions  and 
broken  sequences  as  the  fervent  thought  of  the  author 
hurtles  through  the  mass  of  considerations  and  arguments. 
The  style  shows  how  very  strongly  Paul  felt  on  the  subjects 
treated  and  that  the  letter  proceeded  from  him  when  he  was 
at  white  heat. 

9.  The  last  eight  verses  (6.  11-18)  form  a  postscript 
which  the  apostle  presumably  added  in  his  own  handwriting. 
It  would  almost  seem  that  Paul  wished  to  come  into  even 
closer  contact  with  his  audience  and  theme,  and  therefore 
intensified  the  points  made  in  the  main  letter  by  this  sum- 
mary which  also  authenticated  the  whole  letter  as  being 
truly  from  himself 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNAIENTS 

1.  Where  were  the  Galatian  churches? 

2.  What  is  the  North-Galatian  theory  and  what  the  South-Galatian 

theory  ? 

3.  Date  and  place  of  origin  of  the  letter? 

4.  What  were  Paul's  reasons  for  writing  the  letter? 

5.  Who    were    Paul's    enemies,    and    where,    probably,    did    they 

come  from  ? 

6.  Can  you  read  between  the  Hues  of  Paul's  defense  what  it  was 

that  his  enemies  said  about  him? 

7.  Write  out  the  course  of  the  argument  in  chs.  i  and  2. 

8.  Paraphrase  ch.  3. 

9.  What  is  the  argument  in  4.  21-31? 

10.  Read  Galatians  rapidly  at  a   sitting. 

11.  In  5.  13-26  what  is  the  basis  for  the  moral  life,  of  the  Christian 

free  from  law?     Is  it  a  sufficient  basis? 

12.  Cite  instances  in  which   Paul  argued  like  a  rabbi.     Instances 

in  which  he  spoke  as  an  inspired  prophet. 

13.  Why    did    not    Paul    think    that   both    his    and    his    opponent's 

principles  could  exist  side  by   side? 

14.  Summarize  the  characteristics  of  Paul's  style  in  Galatians. 


CHAPTER   XII 

ROMANS 

I.  This  letter  is  commonly  considered  Paul's  master- 
piece. It  was  sent  to  the  Christians  of  the  capital  city  of 
the  world.  As  Paul  had  not  then  visited  Rome,  he  had  no 
special  claim  to  a  hearing  from  the  Christians  there.  There- 
fore on  the  basis  of  brotherly  comity  alone  he  addressed  him- 
self to  them,  and  his  appeal  is  marked  with  greater  deference 
than  is  the  case  in  his  other  letters.  Indeed,  the  entire  letter 
is  more  deliberate,  the  mood  calmer  than  in  any  other  letter 
of  Paul's  that  we  possess.  The  style  is  expository.  The 
arguments  are  probably  not  directed  against  specific  persons 
or  parties  in  Rome,  but  are  the  answer  of  Paul's  experience 
and  reasoning  to  such  opposition  in  general  as  might  con- 
ceivably arise  wherever  there  were  Jews  or  Christians.  It 
is  the  most  systematic  presentation  of  Paul's  teaching  con- 
cerning the  history  of  God's  redemption  of  the  world.  The 
letter  is  therefore  the  most  consistently  theological  of  the 
list.  In  common  with  the  other  letters  of  the  second  group, 
the  diction  is  terse  and  incisive  and  the  movement  of 
thought  forceful  and  alert.  It  is  essentially  the  method  and 
style  of  debate,-  but  in  Romans  this  feature  is  peculiarly 
subordinated  to  the  purposes  of  explanation.  The  discus- 
sion seems  to  reflect  the  contents  of  Paul's  frequent  debates 
on  these  subjects  with  Jewish  opponents,  for  it  often  intro- 
duces matters  not  necessary  to  the  statement  of  the  main 
argument. 

The  letter  addresses  both  the  Hebrew-Christians,  of  whom 
diere  must  have  been  many  in  Rome,  and  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, who  would  also  be  numerous.    The  importance  of  the 

287 


288  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

church  at  Rome  must  have  been  recognizable  early  and 
would  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  so  great  a  personality  as 
Paul. 

2.  The  occasion  is  clear.  Paul  sought  to  include  Rome 
in  the  itinerary  of  his  travels  (i.  10-13;  15.  23,  24).  His 
wide  vision  included  many  regions  that  he  never  reached 
and  Rome  was,  to  him,  the  logical  center  of  the  Gentile 
world.  In  publishing  his  testimony  to  the  Roman  Chris- 
tians he  would  come  the  nearest  possible,  in  a  single  letter, 
to  letting  the  religious  people  at  large  know  where  he  stood. 
Paul  was  probably  at  Corinth  when  he  wrote  the  letter.  It 
was  in  the  course  of  his  third  missionary  journey.  He  was 
planning  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  after  which  he  seems  to  have 
contemplated  a  longer  journey  than  any  yet  undertaken. 
This  would  have  taken  him  to  Spain,  and  in  the  course  of  it 
he  planned  to  visit  the  Christians  at  Rome  (Rom  15.  2^,  24). 
It  would  have  needed  but  a  short  letter  to  make  this 
annoimcement  of  the  apostle's  plans  and  to  carry  his  greet- 
ings, but  the  way  was  beset  with  many  difficulties.  In  any 
event,  Paul  wished  to  have  a  perfectly  clear  understanding 
with  these  Christians,  which  might  serve  as  an  introduction 
in  case  he  should  reach  them,  or  as  a  testimony  in  case 
they  should  never  greet  each  other  personally.  It  was 
probably  only  a  short  time  before  that  he  had  given  the 
keynote  of  his  message  in  the  letter  to  the  Galatian  churches. 
The  substance  of  that  letter  was  now  expanded  and  treated 
more  systematically.  A  noble  statement  of  his  theme  is 
given  in  Rom  i.  16,  17:  "The  gospel,  .  .  .  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth." 

3.  The  letter  is  in  five  main  sections : 

I.     Introduction,  i.  1-15. 

II.     Main  Doctrinal  Section,  i.   16  to  8. 

(i)  Statement  of  his  theme,  i.  16-17,  and  its  explication. 

(a)  His  explanation  of  the  theme  includes  the  doc- 
trine of  human  redempt^m,  i.   18  to  5. 

(b)  His  discussion  of  Christian  experience,  6  to  8. 


ROMANS  289 

III.  Secondary  Doctrinal  Section,  9  to  11. 

His  theory  of  God's  dealings  with  the  Jewish  people. 

IV.  Practical   applications  and  appeal,    12  to   15.    13. 
V.     Personal  notes  and  conclusion,  15.   14  to  16.  27. 

The  contents  may  be  summarized  under  these  sections  as 
follows : 

I.  Paul,  the  bondman  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  often  desired 
to  visit  the  faithful  in  Rome  for  mutual  encouragement. 

II.  Paul  announces  his  theme  and  testifies  to  the  gospel 
of  a  righteousness  from  God  which  comes  forth  in  response 
to  the  faith  of  the  believing  one,  whatever  his  race.  All 
folly  and  corruption  may  be  traced  to  the  perversity  of  dis- 
obedience to  God  whose  ways  may  be  plainly  understood. 
All  doers  of  evil,  even  though  they  presume  to  judge  others, 
will  be  punished.  Doers  of  good  will  be  rewarded  impartially 
whether  within  the  discipline  of  Jewish  law  or  without 
where  only  the  natural  law  of  conscience  obtains.  There 
is  much  advantage  in  being  a  Jew  (ch.  3),  but  it  does  not 
consist  in  the  mere  knowledge  of  a  code  which  is,  in  practice, 
disobeyed.  The  practical  conclusion  is  that  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles are  guilty  of  sin.  Neither  the  religion  of  the  Jew  nor 
of  the  Gentile  has  led  its  followers  into  harmony  with  God. 
Another  way,  open  to  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  is  found  in 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  way  of  faith.  Abraham  (ch.  4)  used 
it  with  success.  Effective  righteousness  is  never  found  in 
any  other  way.  Through  trust  in  Jesus  Christ  we  come  into 
relationship  with  God  (ch.  5),  who  fills  our  lives  with  love 
because  of  the  presence  of  his  Holy  Spirit  living  in  union 
with  us.  This  great  possibility  was  made  known  to  us  by 
means  of  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  therefore  dead 
to  our  old  life  as  Christ  died  to  his  earthly  career.  (Ch.  6) 
We  are  now  alive  to  a  new  blessed  existence  in  union  with 
God  just  as  Christ  by  the  resurrection  is  alive.  Sin  and  our- 
selves should  henceforth  have  no  dealings.  We  have  been 
made  free  to  do  right,  not  wrong.    Until  this  experience  was 


290  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

ours  we  were  each  one  a  bundle  of  moral  contradictions 
(ch.  7),  slaves  to  sin,  not  free  or  able  to  do  the  things  we 
saw  to  be  right  or  might  in  our  best  choice  desire.  In  the 
relationship  with  Jesus  Christ  we  are  free  (ch.  8)  and  en- 
abled to  do  all  right  things.  We  are  to  prove  our  new 
spiritual  allegiance  by  the  fruitage  of  good  lives.  The 
blessed  results  of  the  new  filial  relation  of  our  spirits  to  God 
will  extend  eventually  to  our  bodies,  yea  even  to  the  whole 
physical  world,  which  will  cease  to  know  pain.  We  shall 
become  participants  in  all  the  resources  of  the  divine  nature. 

III,  Paul  was  sincerely  distressed  by  the  fate  of  his 
fellow  Hebrews.  He  could  even  wish  himself  an  outcast 
from  Christ  if  thus  he  might  help  that  race.  Has  God 
failed  in  their  case  or  has  he  been  unjust?  No,  but  there 
has  often  been  a  seeming  arbitrariness  about  the  grace  of 
God.  But  all  who  believe  truly  in  God  and  call  upon  him 
for  help  are  saved.  This  good  news  needs  to  be  published, 
that  all  may  hear.  Ancient  Israel  heard  this  proclamation, 
but  did  not  heed  except  in  the  case  of  a  faithful  minority, 
as  in  all  ages.    But  Israel  shall  be  saved  finally. 

IV.  Paul  then  proceeded  to  practical  applications  and 
exhortations  which  are  rich  in  ethical  content  and  religious 
feeling.  How  ought  this  principle  of  harmony  with  God 
to  afifect  our  lives?  (Rom  12)  We  are  to  offer  ourselves 
unreservedly  unto  God  who  will  complete  the  heavenly 
transformation  of  personality.  We  differ  according  to  the 
gifts  allotted  to  us  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  but  in  the  loving 
loyalty  of  our  essential  union  in  Christ  we  shall  pursue  only 
the  good  of  all,  even  our  enemies.  (Ch.  13)  We  should 
believe  in  the  control  of  Divine  Providence,  even  as  it 
works  through  governments,  and  discharge  our  debts,  re- 
membering that  our  greatest  debt  is  to  show  forth  Christlike 
love.  We  should  live  as  in  the  light  of  some  great  change 
for  the  better.  (Ch.  14)  Consideration  for  the  weaknesses 
and  scruples  of  the  weaker  ones  within  the  fellowship 
should  be  shown,  and  neither  a  spirit  of  censoriousness  nor 


ROMANS  291 

of  superiority  should  be  manifested.  The  ethical  crown  of 
social  teaching  in  Paul  is  found  in  Rom  15.  1-7.  It  is  the 
summing  up  of  what  has  been  written  in  chs.  13  and  14  and 
is  the  counterpart  of  i  Cor  13. 

V.  Criticism  has  often  questioned  whether  portions  of 
chs.  15  and  16  belong  to  the  letter  to  the  Romans.  It  has 
been  thought  that  they  may  be  fragments  of  other  Pauline 
letters  which  have  become  attached  to  Romans  in  the  manu- 
scripts. The  case  is  stronger  against  ch.  16  than  ch.  15. 
The  reason  is  this  that,  whereas  Romans  is  a  letter  to  a 
city  which  Paul  had  never  seen,  and  the  tone  of  a  com- 
parative stranger  is  kept  up  throughout  the  letter,  yet  after 
the  writing  has  come  to  a  full  stop  (see  15.  33),  ch,  16  is 
suddenly  flooded  with  names  of  Paul's  personal  friends  and 
with  most  intimate  greetings.  Moreover,  the  names  are 
usually  Greek  names.  Epsenetus  was  an  Asian  (16.  5); 
Prisca  and  Aquila  seem  to  have  been  in  Ephesus  a  short 
time  before  this  letter  was  written  (see  i  Cor  16.  9  and 
Acts  18.  18  and  26)  and  may  have  been  there  a  short  time 
after  it  was  written  (see  2  Tim  4.  19).  Lastly,  the  tone  of 
ch.  16  is  more  like  a  personal  letter  of  greeting  to  one  of 
Paul's  own  churches.  This  joined  with  all  the  preceding 
indications,  would  suggest  that  the  chapter  was  a  letter  to 
the  Ephesian  church.  It  appears  to  be  a  letter  of  com- 
mendation introducing  Phoebe,  a  deaconess  of  the  church  at 
Cenchrese  (16.  if.).  Chapter  16  may  have  closed  formerly 
with  V.  20,  the  vv.  21-27  being  a  supplement. 

4.  The  same  subject,  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  alone,  is  treated  in  Romans  and  Galatians,  but  the 
use  made  of  the  doctrine  was  somewhat  different.  In  the 
Galatian  letter  Paul  contended  for  the  gospel  of  faith  in 
Christ  as  against  Judaizing  Christians  who  denied  the 
validity  of  his  teaching  on  that  point.  In  Romans  he 
explained  the  same  doctrine  as  against  the  s}  stem  of  Judaism 
itself.  Romans  was  not  written  in  the  heat  of  contest  antl 
against  specific  dangers,  as  was  the  case  with  Galatians. 


292  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

There  was  no  cause  in  Romans  for  Paul  to  vindicate  his 
apostleship  as  in  Gal  i  and  2,  for  that  had  not  been  assailed, 
but,  except  for  these  contrasts,  Romans  is  in  the  main  an 
elaboration  of  the  thought  which  was  more  briefly  and 
impetuously  disclosed  in  Galatians. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  had  been  Paul's  relations  with  the  church  at  Rome?   Was 

he  not  breaking  his  rule  of  noninterference  with  work  which 
others  had  begun? 

2.  Compare    Romans    with    other    Pauline    letters    for    systematic 

development  and  comprehensiveness. 

3.  What  is  known  about  the  origins  of  the  Christian  Church  at 

Rome? 

4.  Read  i.  16-23;  2.  1-16;  3.  9-26  and  summarize  the  argument. 

5.  See  3.  27;  5.  I  ;  8.  i.     What  results  from  justification  by  faith? 

How  does  faith  lead  to  these  results? 

6.  What  is  the  basis  for  the  moral  life  in  6.  i  to  7.  6? 

7.  Read   7.   7-25   and   explain   the  argument. 

8.  Read  ch.  8  and  summarize  the  meaning. 

9.  State  the  problem  considered  in  chs.  9  to   11   and  the  course 

of  argument. 

10.  Read  ch.  12.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  the  ideal  Christian? 

11.  Read  ch.  14  and  state  the  problem  and  the  manner  of  .solving  it. 

12.  What  are  the  indications  in  ch.  16  that  it  belongs  to  a  separate 

letter? 

13.  Make  a  more  complete  outline  of  Romans  than  the  one  given. 

14.  How  is  Romans  related  to  Galatians? 

(0)  in  its  theory  of  faith  and  law? 

(b)  In  its  claim  that  faith  was  the  foundation  principle  in 
Old  Testament  times? 

(c)  In  its  presentation  of  the  basis  for  the  moral  life? 

15.  What  was  Paul's  idea  about  redemption  as  including  the  reno- 

vation of  the  material  universe? 


CHAPTER   XIII 
CORINTHIANS 

Corinth  was  situated  in  a  strategic  position  between 
northern  and  southern  Greece,  on  the  isthmus  between  the 
Corinthian  and  the  Saronic  Gulfs.  The  travel  east  and 
west  between  Asia  and  Italy  passed  through  it  and  riches 
accumulated  from  its  manufactures  and  commerce.  The 
population  of  the  city  since  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar  had 
contained  Roman  colonists,  Greeks,  and  Jews.  Of  these 
the  Jews  formed  the  smallest  group. 

Paul  went  to  Corinth  after  his  visit  to  Athens  on  his 
second  missionary  journey  (Acts  i8.  1-18)  and  remained 
about  a  year  and  a  half.  He  associated  with  the  worshipers 
in  the  local  synagogue  as  long  as  they  tolerated  him.  After 
that  he  lived  in  a  house  near  by  and  held  meetings  with  his 
Christian  converts,  among  whom  was  the  former  head  of 
the  synagogue.  Many  of  his  associates,  however,  may  have 
been  of  the  humbler  folk  of  Corinth.  Paul  supported  him- 
self while  in  the  city  by  his  trade,  and  received  special  aid 
in  time  of  need  from  certain  of  his  friends  elsewhere  (see 
2  Cor  II.  7-9;  Phil  4.  i5f.). 

The  church  at  Corinth  probably  sufifered  less  from  perse- 
cutions than  some  others,  but  it  presented  many  serious 
problems,  so  that  it  caused  Paul  more  anxiety  than  any 
other  church.  The  difficulty  arose  because  of  the  party 
divisions  among  the  Corinthian  Christians.  They  were  quar- 
relsome about  secondary  matters  and  even  dragged  their 
disputes  into  the  courts  of  the  city. 

Paul  wrote  at  least  four  letters  to  the  Corinthians : 

293 


294  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

A.  The  letter  referred  to  in  i  Cor  5.  9-13. 

B.  The  letter  known  as-  First  Corinthians. 

C.  The  letter  referred  to  in  2  Cor  2.  4!,  which,  probabl}^  does 
not  refer  to  either  of  the  above. 

D.  The  letter  known  as  Second  Corinthians,  or  at  least  the  first 
part  of  it. 

The  first  letter  was  a  short  one  calHng  the  members  at 
Corinth  to  account  for  certain  moral  delinquencies.  In 
their  reply  they  did  not  take  Paul's  anxious  concern  about 
them  seriously  enough,  but  they  showed  a  lively  interest  in 
certain  other  matters  about  which  they  asked  questions. 
This  airy  fickleness  and  failure  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of 
the  abuses  of  which  Paul  complained  grieved  the  apostle. 
He  wrote  in  reply  a  long  letter  which  we  call  First  Corin- 
thians, in  which  he  treated  more  at  length  the  evil  tendencies 
of  certain  persons  in  the  church  (i  Cor  1-6),  and  then 
proceeded  to  deal  with  the  questions  which  the  Corinthians 
had  asked  (i  Cor  7fif.). 

Some  time  after  writing  First  Corinthians  Paul  made  a 
visit  to  Corinth  which  resulted  unpleasantly  (compare  i  Cor 
4.  ipff. ;  II.  34;  16.  7  and  see  2  Cor  2.  i;  12.  14;  13.  i). 
This  unhappy  visit  was  followed  by  a  letter  written  "out  of 
much  affliction  and  anguish  of  heart"  and  "with  many  tears" 
(2  Cor  2.  4).  This  was  the  third  letter,  and  the  letter  in 
which  it  is  mentioned  was  the  fourth. 

Certain  of  Paul's  letters  to  his  churches  have  probably 
been  lost,  but  the  bond  between  him  and  his  converts  was 
so  strong  that  his  churches  must  have  endeavored  to  pre- 
serve his  letters  carefully.  Certainly,  after  Paul's  death 
his  correspondence  was  highly  esteemed.  We  do  not  know 
how  early  the  practice  arose  among  the  churches  of  securing 
copies  of  all  his  letters  and  reading  from  them  for  instruc- 
tion. We  can  readily  imagine  that  the  correspondence  with 
Corinth  was  read  many  times  and  rewritten  as  often  as  the 
copies  wore  out  so  that  the  order  of  the  letters  may  have 
easily  become  confused  in  the  late  copies. 


CORINTHIANS  295 

The  arrangement  of  contents  in  First  and  Second  Cor- 
inthians presents  difficulties.  In  Second  Corinthians  the 
relation  of  chs.  10  to  13  to  the  first  nine  chapters  is  hard  to 
understand.  Chapters  i  to  9  are  written  in  a  cheerful  mood ; 
the  church  has  accepted  his  suggestions,  and  he  feels  that 
confidence  is  once  more  possible.  In  chs.  10  to  13  the  mood 
is  radically  different.  Certain  persons  are  bitterly  opposed 
to  him.  He  retorts  sharply  and  is  evidently  distressed 
about  the  outcome.  Many  suggestions  have  been  made 
which  would  preserve  the  present  arrangement  of  the  letter : 
(i)  That  Paul's  mood  changed  when  he  reached  ch.  10, 
as  some  suggest,  because  at  that  point  he  received  news  of 
unexpected  opposition,  or  (2)  that  he  was  addressing  a  dif- 
ferent section  in  the  church.  But  that  Paul  would  have 
closed  such  a  letter  as  2  Cor  i  to  9  with  four  such  chapters 
as  10  to  13  remains  incredible.  Another  suggestion  is  to 
reverse  the  order,  so  that  chs.  10  to  13  would  be  part  of  a 
letter  written  by  Paul  before  the  contents  of  chs.  i  to  9. 
The  letter  which  contained  2  Cor  10  to  13  would  then  fit  very 
well  the  description  of  the  third  letter  of  Paul  to  Corinth, 
and  2  Cor  i  to  9  might  well  be  his  fourth  letter.  Chapter 
13.  11-13  may  have  concluded  chs.  10  to  13.  10  or,  as  some 
would  say,  be  the  original  ending  of  chs.  i  to  9. 

Several  scholars,  noticing  that  2  Cor  6.  14  to  7.  i  is  a 
parenthetical  passage,  manifestly  out  of  appropriate  context 
in  its  present  location,  have  suggested  that  it  may  have 
been  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the  first  letter  of  Paul  to  Corinth. 
This  would  restore  to  us  parts  of  all  four  of  Paul's  letters, 
thus : 

A.  2  Cor  6.  14  to  7.  I. 

B.  I    Cor    (entire). 

C.  2  Cor  10  to  13. 

D.  2  Cor  I  to  9   (except  A). 

Of  the  letters  listed  above,  B  and  C  were  probably  written 
from  Ephesus.  A  may  have  been  written  from  Ephesus  or 
from  some  part  of  the  tour  mentioned  in  Acts  18.  18-23. 


296  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

D  was  probably  from  some  point  in  Macedonia,  for  after 
Paul  wrote  his  third  letter  to  Corinth  by  Titus  he  was  very 
anxious  concerning  the  outcome  (2  Cor  7.  5-8).  Acts  19 
and  20  indicate  that,  after  his  long  sojourn  in  Ephesus, 
Paul  was  in  Macedonia  (Acts  20.  i  ;  2  Cor  7.  5)  for  a  time 
before  starting  on  the  long  journey  to  Jerusalem.  He  was 
waiting  with  much  concern  for  the  return  of  Titus  from 
Corinth.  In  2  Cor  2.  13  and  7.  6,  i^f.  are  expressed  the 
apostle's  feelings  when  he  greeted  Titus  returning  from 
Corinth  and  decided  to  write  the  fourth  letter,  and  2  Cor 

I.  8ff.  refers  to  the  experiences  at  Ephesus.  In  2  Cor  8.  16- 
23  it  is  shown  that  Titus  and  at  least  two  others  went  to 
Corinth  with  this  fourth  letter.  Paul  hoped  to  follow  (2  Cor 
9.  4;  Acts  20.  2f.). 

The  outline  of  the  Cormthian  correspondence  is  as  follows : 

First  Corinthians 

I.     Introduction,   i.   1-9. 
II.     Paul  rebukes  abuses,   i.    10  to  6. 

(i)  Factional  divisions,   i.   10  to  4. 

(2)  Gross  sexual  sin,  5  to  6  (omitting  6.  i-ii). 

(3)  Litigation   in  heathen  courts,  6.    i-ii. 

III.  Paul  answers  questions  in  the  letter  from  Corinth,  7  to  14. 

(i)   Marital  relations,  7. 

(2)  Scruples  as  to  food  offered  to  idols,  8.  i  to  11.  i. 

(3)  Womanly  decorum  in  public  worship,   11.  2-16. 

(4)  Behavior  at  the   Lord's   Supper,    11.    17-34. 

(5)  Gifts  of  the  Spirit,  12  to  14. 

IV.  Paul  discusses  other  subjects. 

(i)  The  resurrection,   15. 

(2)   Collection   for  the  poor   Christians  in   Jerusalem   and 
closing  salutation,  16. 

Second  Corinthians   (reversing  the  order  of  the  two  parts) 

I.     Paul's  defense  of  himself  and  arraignment  of  his  enemies,   10 
to  13.   10. 

II.  Paul's  thanksgiving  for  the  restoration  of  happy  relations  with 

the  Corinthian  church,  i  to  9. 
I.     Introduction,  i-il. 


CORINTHIANS  297 

2.  Gratulation  and  friendly  advice,  i.  12  to  7. 

3.  The    collection    for    the    poor    at    Jerusalem,    8    to    9 

(Chapter    13.    11-14,   closing   salutations    which    may 
belong  either  to  section  I.  or  II.). 

The  contents  thus  outhned  throw  Hght  on  the  state  of 
society  in  the  Corinthian  church. 

A.  There  must  have  been  many  among  them  who  were 
of  a  volatile  temper,  quick,  superficial,  factious,  intellectually 
curious,  disputatious,  and  morally  unstable.  Instead  of  com- 
bining the  best  teaching  of  all  their  ministers,  the  Cor- 
inthians broke  up  into  parties  which  sided  with  this  or 
another  leader  and  quarreled  among  themselves.  Paul 
sought  to  fasten  their  loyalty  to  principles  rather  than  to 
personalities  and  to  emphasize  their  privilege  of  oneness  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

B.  It  will  be  asked,  How  could  such  gross  abuses  of 
decency  be  possible  in  a  Christian  society  to  which  the  great 
apostle  had  ministered  for  over  a  year  ?  The  state  of  morals, 
and  especially  the  social  conscience  on  marital  matters,  was 
exceedingly  low  in  the  Greco-Roman  world  of  that  age, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  Corinth  was  one  of  the 
most  corrupt  cities  of  the  times.  Its  population  was  made 
up  of  very  diverse  elements,  some  of  them  the  worst  of  the 
period.  From  such  elements  and  against  such  a  background 
was  the  infant  church  of  Corinth.  Paul  was  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  the  moral  problems  of  the  church,  but  he  had 
hope  that  the  life  there  might  be  purged  of  its  worst  elements 
and  led  to  higher  things.  He  lavished  some  of  his  best 
instruction  on  the  Corinthians  (compare  i  Cor  13).  It  was 
a  missionary  field  of  the  most  perplexing  kind.  With  many 
precedents  and  traditions,  but  most  of  them  wrong  from  the 
Christian  viewpoint,  these  eager,  inquisitive  minds  turned 
to  Paul  for  counsel  in  many  things  and  unwittingly  grieved 
him  in  many  others. 

C.  As  to  Paul's  rather  vigorously  emphasized  authority 
as  founder  in  the  Corinthian  and  other  churches,  we  must 


298  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

remember  the  chivalric  relations  which  obtain  in  a  new 
fellowship,  and  also  Paul's  strong  feeling  of  the  personal 
bond  which  united  him  to  his  converts.  Moreover,  there 
were  mischief-makers  who  did  not  scruple  to  follow  Paul 
in  his  fields  and  depreciate  his  authority  in  the  hope  of  con- 
verts to  their  own  point  of  view.  In  2  Cor  10  to  13  it  is 
seen  that  Paul's  claims  were  contested,  but,  happily,  his 
worth  was  at  length  given  its  full  recognition. 

D.  Paul  refers  several  times  to  the  plan  of  a  collection. 
He  called  for  a  free-will  offering  from  his  missionary  field. 
This  he  purposed  to  take  or  send  to  Jerusalem  where  many 
of  the  Christians,  mostly  of  the  Hebrew  stock,  were  in 
poverty.  It  was  a  very  magnanimous  thing  for  Paul  and 
the  Gentile  churches  to  do,  since  it  was  probably  from  the 
Jerusalem  church  that  those  Judaizers  came  who  looked 
askance  upon  such  Christians  as  were  without  Jewish  back- 
ground. Paul  hoped  to  prove  to  the  mother  church  that  his 
Gentile  missionary  converts  possessed  the  first  essential 
fruit  of  the  Spirit — love.  The  collection  was,  therefore,  a 
peace  offering,  proving  the  loving  union  of  the  fellowship. 

The  emotional  style  of  Corinthians  is  in  keeping  with  the 
fact  that  they  are  genuine  letters,  unpremeditated,  intimate, 
revealing  a  rich  variety  of  personal  attitude  and  feeling  in 
response  to  the  diversity  of  questions  raised.  The  order  of 
subjects  is  that  of  the  emergencies  which  give  rise  to  the 
problems.  Tense,  glowing  passages,  tender  recollection, 
discussion  and  appeal  follow  without  system.  The  sequences 
are  broken,  the  language  is  overcharged  with  the  pressure 
of  the  apostle's  thought.  He  is  endeavoring  in  these  letters 
to  solve  critical  problems  at  a  distance.  His  affections  vie 
with  his  censures  and  above  all  there  is  the  one  controlling 
principle  of  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ. 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Where  was  Corinth  and  what  was  its  history  under  the  Romans? 

2.  What  was  Paul's  experience  in  the  city.     See  Acts. 


CORINTHIANS  299 

3.  State  the  occasion  for  each  of  the  four  letters  to  Corinth. 

4.  Read  the  first  six  chapters  of  First  Corinthians  and  describe 

the  state  of  the  church. 

5.  How  would  chs.  12  and  13  add  to  the  estimate  of  the  character 

of  the  church? 

6.  What  subjects  had  the  Corinthians  included  in  their  letter  to 

Paul?      In    which    chapters    of    First    Corinthians    did    Paul 
treat  of  them? 

7.  What  was  the  problem  discussed  in  i  Cor  8  and  9?    What  was 

Paul's    principle    of    solution?      Compare    the    problem    and 
solution  with  that  in  Rom   14. 

8.  Read  i  Cor  12  to  14.    What  did  Paul  mean  by  "spiritual  gifts"? 

How  does  he  decide  which  is  the  best  gift? 

9.  What  was  Paul's  idea  of  the  future  life  in  i  Cor  15? 

10.  Read  2  Cor  chs.   10  and   11;    i  to  5  in  this  order.     Can  you 

discover  a  marked  difference  between  the  two  groups? 

11.  Prove  that  2  Cor  6.  14  to  7.  i  is  out  of  accord  with  its  context. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

LETTERS  WRITTEN  DURING  PAUL'S 
IMPRISONMENT 

The  visit  of  Paul  to  Rome  was  accomplished,  but  in  a 
manner  different  from  his  plan.  On  reaching  Jerusalem 
Paul  was  confronted  with  misunderstanding  and  opposition. 
His  arrest  was  brought  about  by  enemies  and  two  years 
were  spent  in  prison  at  Csesarea  in  Palestine,  the  seat  of 
government.  Fearing  an  unfair  result  of  the  trial,  Paul 
appealed  his  case  to  the  highest  tribunal,  at  Rome.  Acts 
28.  30  records  that  he  spent  at  least  two  years  in  that  city. 

The  letters  to  Philemon,  Colossians,  Ephesians,  and 
Philippians  were  written  during  the  years  of  imprisonment. 
Both  Csesarea  and  Rome  have  been  suggested  as  the  places 
from  which  they  may  have  been  written,  but  Rome  is  more 
commonly  accepted.  There  are  those  who  argue  that  the 
fact  that  Philippians  is  so  different  from  Colossians  and 
Ephesians,  and  so  much  more  like  Romans  in  spirit  and 
style,  is  an  indication  that  Philippians  was  written  nearer 
the  date  of  Romans.  But  this  argument  in  order  to  have 
much  force  would  require  that  considerably  more  time  must 
have  elapsed  between  Philippians  and  the  letters  to  Colos- 
sians and  Ephesians  than  between  Philippians  and  Romans. 
It  was  probably  not  the  lapse  of  time  that  accounted  for 
the  peculiar  characteristics  of  Colossians  and  Ephesians,  but 
the  utterly  different  circumstances  and  needs  of  the  recipients 
of  those  letters.  Supporting  this  is  the  probability  that 
more  time  elapsed  between  the  writing  of  Romans  and  all 
the  letters  of  the  third  group  than  between  the  several 
members  of  the  third  group.  The  expectation  running 
through  it  that  tlie  trial  of  Paul  was  about  to  take  place 

300 


LETTERS— PAUL'S    IMPRISONMENT        301 

leads  us  to  think  that  Philippians  was  the  last  letter  of  the 
group  (Phil  I.  2off. ;  2.  23).  That  trial  presumably  brought 
the  end  of  his  imprisonment. 

In  general,  we  should  place  the  date  of  all  the  letters  of 
the  group  not  far  from  62  A.  D. 

Philemon 

This  remarkable  letter  is  purely  personal  in  content. 
Though  it  mentions  several  persons  in  the  introductory 
greetings,  and  refers  to  them  again  in  closing,  yet  the  body 
of  the  letter  is  intended  for  but  one  person,  Philemon,  a 
householder  in  the  little  town  of  Colossse  in  middle  Asia 
Minor.  The  letter  is  not  only  remarkable  in  its  intimate 
picture  of  the  little  Christian  group  addressed,  in  the  light 
thrown  upon  the  attitude  of  the  Christianity  of  that  age  of 
the  Roman  world  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  but  even 
more  in  its  revelation  of  the  personality  of  Paul. 

The  letter  was  probably  written  in  Paul's  own  hand  and 
carried  by  Tychicus,  the  bearer  of  the  letter  to  the  church 
in  Colossse  (Col  4.  7flf.),  who  went  accompanied  by  One- 
simus,  a  runaway  slave  of  Philemon.  The  slave  had  fled 
to  Rome,  where  he  became  a  convert  to  Christianity  through 
the  influence  of  Paul.  It  was  at  once  apparent  to  Paul  that 
Onesimus  should  return  to  his  master,  and  the  letter  seeks 
a  forgiving  reception  for  him.  The  combination  of  Paul's 
courtesy  and  persuasion  is  scarcely  more  genial  than  the 
interplay  of  seriousness  and  humor.  In  the  eleventh  and 
twentieth  verses  the  writer  puns  on  the  Greek  name  "Onesi- 
mus," which  means  "profitable"  or  "helpful."  Utterly  with- 
out affectation  or  the  consciousness  that  his  letter  would 
ever  become  public  property,  the  apostle  disclosed  in  this 
perfectly  spontaneous  note  the  secret  of  his  great  power 
with  his  friends. 

COLOSSIANS 

Colossae  was  situated  in  the  Lycus  Valley,  in  that  part 


302  THE    BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

of  tlie  country  of  Phrygia  which  was  inchuled  in  the  Roman 
province  of  Asia.  Paul  had  never  visited  the  place  (Col 
I.  4;  2.  i),  but  one  of  his  evangelists,  Epaphras,  had  founded 
the  church  there,  so  Paul  felt  that  it  was  a  part  of  his  work. 

The  occasion  for  the  letter  was  news  brought  by  Epaphras 
of  the  Colossians'  progress  in  the  Christian  religion.  It 
appears  that  a  disturbing  philosophical  teaching  akin  to  that 
known  later  as  Gnosticism  was  threatening  the  hold  of  the 
gospel  on  the  Asian  churches.  What  this  was  we  can  only 
surmise  from  the  apostle's  discussion  of  the  subject.  It  is 
clear  that  he  is  using  the  terms  and  conceptions  of  the 
teaching  throughout  the  letters  Colossians  and  Ephesians. 
The  words  and  phrases  and  the  peculiar  cast  given  by  the 
method  to  the  thought  and  style  of  Paul  are  easily  detected 
in  Colossians  as  differing  from  the  Pauline  manner  in  the 
letters  of  the  second  group  (see  i.  9-19,  26;  2.  8-10,  16-23). 
The  mention  of  "the  mystery,"  "the  fullness,"  "the  princi- 
palities," "powers,"  "thrones,"  "all  things,"  "treasures  of 
wisdom,"  together  with  the  references  to  "voluntary  humil- 
ity," "worshiping  of  the  angels,"  and  the  items  in  2.  16,  are 
all  suggestive  of  a  theosophical  blending  of  elements  of  the 
Phrygian  religion,  Judaism,  and  the  Greek  thought  of 
Alexandria.  Many  such  precursors  of  Gnosticism  must 
have  flourished  for  a  time  and  are  partly  revealed  probably 
in  the  more  complete  Gnostic  systems  of  tlie  second  century 
A.  D. 

All  Gnostic  systems  agreed  in  conceiving  of  God  as  too 
spiritual  and  too  remote  from  the  material  world  to  have 
any  close  relation  to  it.  Matter  was  corrupt,  and  the  Su- 
preme Being  was  too  pure  to  be  its  creator.  Between  God 
and  the  world  they  thought  of  a  numerous  succession  of 
subordinate  beings,  or  divinities,  who  attended  to  the  pro- 
duction and  government  of  mankind  and  the  material  uni- 
verse. The  idea  of  the  Divine  Being  was,  as  a  result,  very 
hazy.  The  effect  on  Christian  doctrine  was  chiefly  notice- 
able in  the  tendency  to  think  of  Jesus  Christ  not  as  pre- 


LETTERS— PAUL'S    IMPRISONMENT        303 

eminent,  but  as  one  of  the  innumerable  emanations  or 
principalities  or  powers  that  filled  the  infinite  distance  be- 
tween the  highest  Deity  and  the  world.  This  would  have 
emptied  the  gospel  of  moral  and  religious  significance  and 
have  reduced  Paul's  unique  Lord  and  Master  to  an  incon- 
siderable rank  and  function,  instead  of  conceiving  him  as 
the  Redeemer  of  the  world.  To  oppose  similar  insidious 
and  dreamy  speculation  in  his  own  day  Paul  developed  and 
expressed  even  more  carefully  than  before  his  doctrine  of 
the  person,  significance,  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
world  and  in  the  preexistent  ages.  He  did  this  by  captur- 
ing the  phraseology  of  the  error  which  he  opposed  and 
showed  how  even  on  its  suppositions  it  was  necessary  to 
consider  Christ  as  the  interpreting  clue  in  creation. 

Ephesians 

The  tendency  of  biblical  scholarship  is  to  follow  the 
testimony  of  the  best  two  MSS.  of  the  New  Testament 
(j^  and  B)  which  omit  the  words  "at  Ephesus"  from  the 
first  sentence  of  this  letter.  A  very  likely  suggestion  is 
that  the  letter  may  have  been  sent,  in  several  copies  to 
different  churches  in  Asia  Minor,  and  that  the  Ephesian 
congregation  ma}'  have  found  or  have  placed  the  words 
"at  Ephesus"  in  its  own  copy.  Paul  spent  more  time  in 
Ephesus  than  in  any  other  field  to  which  we  have  his 
letters.  His  relations  with  the  Ephesian  Christians  were 
particularly  intimate.  We  saw  reason  for  thinking  that  the 
sixteenth  chapter  of  Romans  was  filled  with  names  of  his 
Ephesian  friends,  and  know  that  many  hold  the  opinion  that 
the  chapter  is  a  part  at  least  of  a  letter  to  the  church  at 
Ephesus.  In  the  light  of  that  opinion,  and  the  reasons  for 
it,  consider  the  general  contents  and  all  but  impersonal 
manner  of  the  letter  called  Ephesians.  Paul  is  not  known 
in  any  other  case  to  have  written  a  letter  so  devoid  of 
personal  greetings  to  a  church  that  he  had  seen.  The  first 
fifteen  chapters  of  Romans  are  much  more  particular  and 


304  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

intimate,  although  they  were  sent  to  a  church  which  Paul 
had  not  visited. 

Col  4.  16  implies  that  a  letter  had  been  sent  to  Laodicea 
and  that  it  was  to  be  exchanged  with  the  Colossians  for 
their  letter  from  Paul.  It  may  be,  as  some  think,  that  our 
Ephesians  was  a  circular  letter  of  which  the  letter  to  the 
Laodiceans  was  one  copy. 

The    Outline    of    Colossians 

Greetings  1.1,2 

Thanksgiving  for  their  faith i.  3-8 

Prayer  for  their  perfection i.  9-23 

Paul  rejoices  in  his  lot 1.24-29 

His  concern  for  Asian  Christians 2.  1-7 

Warnings     2.  8  to  3.  4 

Practical   exhortations    3.  5  to  4.  5 

Personal  notes  and  closing  words 4.  7-18 

The  Outline  of  EpJicsians 

Greetings   i.  i,  2 

Beatitude   and   ascription   of   praise I- 3-14 

Thanksgiving  and  praj^er I.  15-23 

Doctrinal  statement  of  religious  position 2.1-22 

Prayer    (with  long  personal   parenthesis) 3-  1-21 

Exhortations,  interspersed  with   doctrinal   passages 

and    warnings    4.  i  to  6.  20 

Personal  notes  and  closing  words 6.21-24 

The  contents  of  Colossians  and  Ephesians  are  strikingly 
similar.  It  may  be  that,  after  having  written  Colossians, 
the  apostle  or  a  follower  composed  Ephesians  with  a  similar 
ovitline  in  mind  and  by  enlargement  of  the  discussion  of 
the  themes  of  Colossians.  The  dominant  theme  of  Colos- 
sians, the  Supreme  Significance  of  Christ,  is  the  main 
thought  of  Ephesians,  but  in  the  latter  epistle  it  leads  to  a 
secondary  theme  of  The  Harmonious  Church  in  Christ.  In 
Colossians  the  unique  position  of  Christ  is  made  clear  for 
the  sake  of  those  interested  in  philosophy.     In  Ephesians  it 


LETTERS— PAUL'S   IMPRISONMENT        305 

is  emphasized  for  the  sake  of  concord  and  efficiency  within 
the  church  fellowship. 

The  thought  of  Colossians  and  Ephesians  is  much  more 
abstract  than  that  of  the  letters  which  have  preceded,  and 
the  literary  style  takes  on  a  like  abstract  quality.  The 
sentences  are  heavy  and  complex.  In  the  first  chapter  of 
Colossians  are  some  of  these  very  long  sentences,  and  the 
EngUsh  reader  will  find  one  in  the  first  chapter  of  Ephesians 
that  is  twelve  verses  long.  In  fact  these  two  letters  are  as 
different  from  Thessalonians,  Galatians,  and  Corinthians  as 
the  fourth  Gospel  is  different  from  the  synoptics. 

Philippians 

The  church  at  Philippi  in  Macedonia  was  the  first  one 
founded  by  Paul  in  Europe.  It  was  a  source  of  much  satis- 
faction to  him,  being  made  up  of  simple-hearted,  earnest, 
affectionate  people  who  were  very  loyal  to  the  apostle.  They 
even  sent  him  occasional  gifts  of  money  to  help  him  in  his 
work. 

After  greeting  them  Paul  writes  that  he  is  ever  thankful 
and  confident  concerning  the  spiritual  progress  of  the  Chris- 
tians at  Philippi.  He  wishes  to  assure  them  that  his  afflic- 
tions as  a  prisoner  have  a  good  result,  in  that  they  are  the 
occasion  of  making  Christ  better  known,  and  he  is  very 
desirous  that  the  Philippians  shall  be  firm.  Chapter  2 — 
He  urges  upon  them  the  humble,  obedient  mind  of  Christ 
Jesus,  who  divested  himself  of  all  privilege  that  he  might  be 
perfectly  obedient  even  to  death.  For  that  reason  God  has 
made  Jesus  Christ  Lord  of  all.  The  Philippians  are  to  be 
likewise  obedient,  in  order  that  they  may  be  luminous  in  this 
world.  Paul  commended  two  unselfish  ministers  whom  he 
was  sending  to  Philippi — Timothy,  who  was  less  known  to 
them,  and  Epaphroditus,  who  was  their  minister  and  their 
messenger  to  Paul.  Chapter  3 — Paul  put  them  on  their 
guard  against  the  Judaizing  teachers  such  as  had  made 
mischief  in  Galatia,  Corinth,  and  other  places.    Chapter  4 — 


3o6  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

The  apostle  includes  a  personal  word  to  two  women  in  the 
church,  urging  them  to  seek  to  be  at  one  in  Christian  serv- 
ice, and  he  also  urges  the  members  to  help  the  women  and 
other  laborers  in  the  gospel.  With  another  emphasis  upon 
joy,  with  a  list  of  the  graces  they  are  to  seek,  and  with  a 
careful  restatement  of  his  occasion  for  gratitude  to  the 
Philippians  for  their  material  provision  for  him,  Paul  closes 
with  salutations  and  a  benediction. 

The  contents  may  be  outlined  as  follows : 

Greetings  i.  i,  2 

Thanksgiving   and   prayer    i-  3-li 

Personal    assurances    i.  12-30 

Practical  exhortations   2.  1-18 

Personal  notes  2.  19-30 

Warning  against   false  teachers    3.  1-21 

Exhortations,  gratitude  and  closing    4-1-23 

The  most  famous  passage  in  the  book  is  in  2.  6-8,  which 
with  its  context  is  Paul's  clearest  statement  of  his  doctrine 
that  the  preexistent  Christ  submitted  obediently  to  the 
human  estate  of  incarnation  and  death,  as  a  result  of  which 
God  has  raised  Jesus  to  the  first  rank,  so  that  all  should 
confess  that  he  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 

The  occasion  for  the  letter  seems  to  have  been  that  Paul 
wished  to  send  by  the  two  ministers  Timothy  and  Epa- 
phroditus  not  only  his  commendation  of  them  but  words  of 
comfort  and  appreciation  to  his  loyal  friends  at  Philippi, 
and  to  warn  them  against  external  foes,  the  Judaizers,  and 
against  internal  discord  or  gloom. 

The  use  of  the  word  "finally"  in  3.  i  has  led  some  critics 
to  think  that  Paul  brought  his  letter  to  a  close  at  that 
point  and  that  what  follows  is  either  part  of  another  letter 
or  subsequent  supplementation.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  seems 
more  likely  that  we  have  a  continuous  letter  and  that  the 
word  translated  "finally"  would  be  better  translated  by 
"moreover"  or  "besides"  and  indicate  merely  a  transition 
to  another  subject  or  phase  of  thought. 


LETTERS— PAUL'S    IMPRISONMENT        307 

We  place  the  letter  last  in  date  of  the  Prison  Group,  when 
the  long  delayed  trial  of  Paul  was  about  to  take  place.  Paul 
seems  to  have  expected  to  be  set  free,  but  whether  he  was 
or  not  we  do  not  know. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Trace  Paul's  progress  from  Corinth  to  Rome  after  writing  the 

letter  to  Romans.     See  Acts. 

2.  Discuss  the  periods  during  the  imprisonments  of  Paul  at  which 

he  might  have  written  these  letters. 

3.  What  are  the  conclusive  arguments  of   those  who   date  all   in 

the   Roman  period? 

4.  What  is  the  preferred  order  for  these  letters,  with  reasons? 

5.  What  are  the   reasons   suggested   for  the   differences  between 

Colossians  and  Philippians? 

6.  Read  Philemon  for  information  about  Philemon  and  Onesimus 

and  the  life  of  that  day. 

7.  What  extra  data  about  Paul  does  the  letter  give  us? 

8.  Compare  character,  manner,  and  style  of  Philemon  with  any  of 

Paul's  other  letters. 

9.  Where  was  Colossje,  and  what  was  the  origin  of  the  church 

there? 

10.  What  was  Gnosticism,  and  when  was  it  prevalent? 

11.  What  elements  of  Colossians  suggest  incipient  Gnosticism? 

12.  How  did  the  treatment  of  the  peculiar  phase  of  thought  in 

Colossians   affect  the   literary   style? 

13.  Paraphrase  Ephesians,  ch.  i. 

14.  How  does  Eph  i  differ  from  Paul's  style  in  Galatians? 

15.  Compare  the  subjects  of  Ephesians  with  those  of  Colossians. 

16.  Read    Philippians   at   a   sitting. 

17.  What  subjects  are  treated  in  it? 

18.  Wliich  passage  shows  the  occasion  for  writing  the  letter? 

19.  What  is  disclosed  of  Paul's  situation  and  of  the  spirit  in  which 

he  met  it? 

20.  State  in  your  own  words  the  argument   in   Phil  2.    i-ii. 

21.  If  the   substance  of   Paul's  message   to  the    Philippians,    was, 

"I  rejoice,  rejoice  ye,"  verify  it  from  the  letter.     Why  did 
Paul  rejoice? 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  PASTORAL  LETTERS 

The  fourth  group  of  Pauline  letters  deals  with  questions 
of  church  administration  and  discipline.  They  are  letters 
of  encouragement  to  Timothy  and  Titus.  The  apostle  is 
not,  as  in  the  first  three  groups,  represented  as  combating 
errors  directly,  but  as  urging  these  ministers  who  stand 
between  Paul  and  the  churches  to  oppose  the  threatening 
evils.  The  letters  would  imply  that  the  emergencies  of  the 
period  did  not  call  for  any  advancement  in  the  statement 
of  Christian  doctrine,  but  that  the  system  of  truth  was  now 
complete,  and  all  that  was  necessary  was  its  application.  On 
the  other  hand,  new  emergencies  called  for  new  adjustment 
of  the  ecclesiastical  machinery,  which  is  evident  in  the 
recognition  of  elders  and  deacons  as  separate  orders  of 
ministry. 

It  is  felt  by  nearly  all  scholars  that  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  recognizing  these  as  letters  from  Paul  are  greater 
than  is  the  case  with  any  others  of  the  Pauline  writings. 
Critics  either  accept  or  reject  all  three  of  the  Pastorals.  For 
the  case  is  much  the  same  with  First  and  Second  Timothy 
and  Titus.  The  main  difficulties  are  ( i )  in  reconciling  the 
statements  about  the  travels  of  Paul  and  his  friends  with 
anything  that  we  know  about  the  subject  from  Acts  and  the 
other  epistles.  (2)  The  manner  of  Paul  in  the  Pastorals 
is  said  to  be  unlike  him.  He  is  said  to  be  too  harsh,  as 
in  the  case  of  Cretans  (Titus  i.  12,  13)  and  of  Alexander 
the  coppersmith  (2  Tim  4.  14).  (3)  The  author  uses 
phrases  unlike  Paul's  ordinary  usage.  (4)  The  language 
in  these  letters  shows  many  differences   from  the   Pauline 

308 


THE  PASTORAL  LETTERS       309 

vocabulary  in  the  other  letters.  (5)  The  doctrinal  content 
of  the  Pastorals  is  said  to  be  unlike  the  teaching  in  the  un- 
disputed epistles.  A  possible  way  of  meeting  the  first  ob- 
jection is  by  the  statement  that  Paul  was  liberated  from  his 
Roman  imprisonment  and  went  about  upon  his  tours  again, 
which  would  give  time  for  all  the  occurrences  in  the  Pas- 
toral references.  The  second  objection  is  a  matter  that  is 
scarcely  debatable  on  exact  grounds,  but  will  be  decided  ac- 
cording to  one's  point  of  view.  To  the  third  and  fourth 
objection  answer  has  been  made  by  referring  to  Paul's 
versatility  in  phraseology  and  his  dependence  on  the  serv- 
ices of  different  scribes.  Some  have  suggested  Luke  as  the 
author.     The  fifth  point  will  be  discussed  below. 

A  final  consideration  which  may  be  permitted  even  by 
one  who  would  claim  substantial  Pauline  authorship  for 
them,  is  that  these  letters  have  been  more  freely  dealt  with 
by  their  owners  and  students.  And  a  plausible  reason  would 
be  that  these  were  to  be  retained  as  manuals  by  church 
officers  instead  of  being  quite  so  congregational  in  charac- 
ter as  most  of  the  preceding  letters.  Much  has  been  said 
on  all  sides  of  the  question  since  the  days  of  Schleier- 
macher's  objections  (to  First  Timothy  especially).  See 
an  excellent  statement  by  Adeney  ( Bennett  and  Adeney,  406 
to  414).  It  has  even  been  suggested  that  Timothy  and 
Titus  arranged  these  works  upon  the  basis  of  briefer  mes- 
sages of  Paul  to  themselves. 

Timothy  was  the  close  friend  and  companion  of  Paul 
in  travel  and  work.  He  may  have  been  Paul's  secretary. 
In  five  instances  he  is  mentioned  with  Paul  as  joined  in  the 
dispatch  of  letters  to  the  churches,  namely,  i  Thess  i.  i  ; 
2  Thess  I.  I ;  2  Cor  i.  i  ;  Phil  i.  i  ;  Col  i.  i.  In  the  letter 
to  Philemon  also,  v.  i,  we  find  him  joined  with  Paul,  and 
he  is  prominent  in  the  salutations  found  in  Romans  16  (v. 
21).  His  mother  was  a  Jewess,  though  his  father  was  a 
Gentile.  He  himself  conformed  to  Judaism  (Acts  16.  3)  and 
thus  was  with   Paul  eligible  to  the  society  of  Jews.     His 


3IO  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

experiences  with  Paul,  begun  in  youth,  continued  probably 
until  the  apostle  was  put  to  death. 

First  Timothy 

Paul  wrote  from  Macedonia  to  Timothy,  whom  he  had 
left  in  charge  at  Ephesus.  The  message  urged  Timothy 
to  be  loyal  and  alert,  to  check  false  conceptions  of  the  law 
and  its  function.  It  advised  concerning  true  worship  and 
the  requisite  character  in  church  officers.  It  warned  against 
nonessentials  and  perversions  and  gave  practical  advice  con- 
cerning social  order  and  discipline  in  the  membership. 

As  a  literary  work  it  is  thought  to  be  most  independent 
of  Paul  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  continuous  of  the 
three  letters. 

The  relationship  between  Paul  and  Timothy  seems  forced, 
with  the  result  that  Paul  shows  almost  puerile  caution.  Tim- 
othy (and  Titus  as  well)  was  told  many  things  which  seem 
unnecessary  on  the  theory  that  Paul  had  either  been  with 
him  recently  or  was  about  to  see  him.  Such  passages  as 
I  Tim  I.  12-17;  I  Tim  2.  7  seem  superfluous. 

Of  the  three  letters  First  Timothy  seems  most  surely  post- 
apostolic.  This  has  reference  to  the  object  sought,  the  man- 
ner and  the  language.  In  many  respects  it  reminds  one  of  the 
Didache,  a  manual  of  instruction  for  Christians,  which  was 
published  about  100  A.  D. 

Second  Timothy 

This  letter  purports  to  be  from  Rome  while  Paul  was  a 
prisoner.  His  case  seemed  desperate,  but  he  wrote  to  en- 
courage Timothy,  who  was  still  in  charge  at  Ephesus,  and 
to  ask  him  to  join  Paul  in  Rome.  This  state  of  things 
would  involve  a  second  imprisonment  of  Paul  in  Rome. 

Even  the  most  stringent  criticism  is  likely  to  admit  that 
certain  passages,  such  as  i,  if,  15-18;  4.  9-21,  arc  genuinely 
Pauline.  Others  would  admit  a  larger  element  of  genu- 
ineness. 


THE   PASTORAL   LETTERS  311 

Titus 

Was  written  either  from  Greece  or  Macedonia  to  Titus, 
who  was  the  leadinj^  Christian  representative  in  the  island 
of  Crete,  where  he  had  labored  with  Paul.  Titus  was  one 
of  Paul's  Gentile  converts  whom  Paul  made  use  of  as  an 
example  of  the  freedom  and  efficacy  of  his  gospel  of  faith 
in  Christ  as  alone  essential  to  give  one  the  true  Christian 
character  (Gal  2.  3;  Titus  i.  4).  He  was  the  trusted  mes- 
senger of  Paul  to  the  factious  church  at  Corinth,  and  carried 
the  critical  third  epistle  from  Paul  to  that  society  at  a  time 
when  Paul's  relations  to  the  church  were  in  jeopardy. 
Probably  he  was  influential  in  bringing  about  the  more 
reasonable  attitude  which  that  church  adopted  toward  its 
spiritual  father,  Paul.  It  would  appear  from  2  Cor  8  that 
Titus  was  also  the  bearer  of  Paul's  fourth  letter  to  Cor- 
inth. The  character  revealed  in  these  records  is  of  an 
earnest,  zealous,  and  much  trusted  Christian  minister. 

The  epistle  to  Titus  advised  the  repression  of  mischief- 
makers  and  gave  practical  advice  for  an  orderly  and  quiet 
Christian  life  among  the  Cretan  societies. 

It  has  been  remarked  as  strange  that  Paul,  having  had  so 
brief  an  acquaintance  with  the  Cretan  field,  should  inform 
Titus,  who  lived  there,  of  the  character  of  the  population 
and  especially  that  he  should  use  the  tmcomplimentary  lan- 
guage of  I.  I2f.  Moreover,  it  has  been  pointed  out  that 
the  advice  given  is  of  a  very  elementary  kind,  especially 
when  one  reads  that  oral  advice  had  already  been  given 
(i.  5)  and  that  more  was  likely  to  follow  (3.  12). 

By  those  who  reject  their  Pauline  authorship  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  arrange  the  letters  in  the  order  Second  Timothy, 
Titus,  First  Timothy,  and  to  point  out  that  there  is  much 
parallel  material  in  them. 

It  is  felt  by  the  large  and  growing  list  of  those  who  can- 
not accept  the  strict  Pauline  authorship  of  these  three  let- 
ters that  they  would  represent  the  great  apostle  in  an 
attitude  of  increasing  accommodation  if  not  of  retreat  before 


312  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

opposition  and  suggestion.  He  seems  in  the  Pastorals  to 
have  relinquished  the  sharp  characteristics  that  distinguished 
him  in  the  second  group  especially.  The  positions,  argu- 
ments, manner,  diction  and  even  courage  seem  to  have 
changed. 

But  as  Beyschlag  notes  (New  Testament  Theology  501  ff.) 
the  letters  betray  the  fact  that  the  errors  which  are  made 
to  appear  as  predictions  of  Paul  were  really  troubles  of 
later  times  and  probably  the  letters  were  written  in  those 
times.  He  himself,  if  alive,  would  not  appeal  so  exclusively 
(See  Sheldon's  New  Testament  Theology)  to  ecclesiastical 
means  for  the  correction  of  error,  but  would  trust  more 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  work  reforms  in  the  church  and 
would  give  them  clear,  authoritative  advice  as  he  did  to 
the  Corinthians.  Compare  i  Tim  4.  i  with  i.  3;  i.  19 
with  6.  20;  2  Tim  3.  i ;  4.  3  with  2.  16-18,  23. 

It  is  a  much  weakened  Pauline  doctrine  that  is  found 
in  the  Pastorals.  They  are  more  of  the  order  of  ecclesias- 
tical policing  than  religious  prophecy.  All  the  rugged, 
subtle,  and  unique  things  in  Paul  are  hard  to  find  here, 
God  as  Saviour  is  a  peculiar  thought  and  phrase  (i  Tim 
r.  i;  2.  3;  4.  10;  2  Tim  i.  9;  Titus  i.  3;  2.  10;  3.  4). 
Compare  i  Tim  i.  8f.  with  Paul's  well-known  attitude  to 
the  law  as  found  in  the  second  group  of  letters.  It  is, 
however,  just  such  an  interpretation  of  Paul's  teaching  as 
one  might  expect  sadly  perplexed  officials  in  the  Pauline 
churches  to  retain  and  exhibit  in  the  last  of  the  first  cen- 
tury or  early  in  the  second. 

Faith  has  become  much  more  an  objective  thing  than  was 
possible  with  Paul,  while  his  doctrine  of  an  inner  and  vital 
union  with  Christ  disappears.  The  teaching  about  Christ 
in  the  following  passages  is  to  be  noted:  i  Tim  i.  15;  2.  5; 
2  Tim  I.  10;  Titus  i.  4;  2.  11,  13;  3.  4fif.  The  conception 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  Pastorals  is  like  that  in  Second  Peter 
and  the  Apocalypse. 

"These  epistles  became  authorities  of  unique  importance 


THE  PASTORAL  LETTERS       313 

for  the  gradual  transformation  which  the  ideas  promulgated 
by  Paul  underwent  in  the  Greek  world.  They  show  us  how 
much  of  these  ideas  was  preserved,  how  much  still  under- 
stood, how  much  dropped  in  process  of  time ;  they  witness 
to  the  reverence  with  which  men  regarded  the  founder  of 
Greek  Christendom,  to  the  increasing  spiritual  subjection  of 
the  later  generations  to  the  past — to  the  first  generation." 

Moffatt  (Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  New- 
Testament  399)  urges  that  the  very  roughness  and  dis- 
crepancies in  all,  especially  in  Second  Timothy,  "indicate 
that  the  writer  had  not  a  free  hand.  Certain  traditions  lay 
before  him.  He  was  not  sketching  a  purely  imaginary  set 
of  circumstances,  but  was  engaged  in  working  up  materials 
which  were  not  always  tractable."  Attention  is  called  to 
the  fact  that  in  2  Tim  i.  i  to  i.  13  the  emphasis  is  on  suffer- 
ing with  and  for  the  gospel  as  a  note  of  genuine  Christianity, 
endurance  being  a  feature  of  the  Pauline  gospel. 

It  is  likely  that  these  letters,  especially  Second  Timothy, 
contain  elements  from  older  letters  or  conversations  of  Paul 
which  became  nuclei  about  which  disciplinary  fragments 
were  assembled  and  worked  into  manuals  by  church  officers. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Gather  the  main  subjects  treated  in  these  three  letters:    First 

Timothy,    Second   Timothy  and   Titus. 

2.  Is  the  method  employed   one  of  argument  or  appeal?     Illus- 

trate  from   actual   passages. 

3.  Sketch  Timothy's  life   from   Acts  and  Paul's   letters. 

4.  Read    i    Tim    1-4.      What    subjects   are    included?     What   are 

the  favorite  phrases? 

5.  Show   in  above  passage  difference   between   the  phrases   used 

and    Paul's   customary   usage. 

6.  What  are  the  most  Pauline  passages  in  Second  Timothy?    The 

least   Pauline  ? 

7.  What  is   known   of   Titus? 

8.  What  is  the  content  of  the  letter  to  Titus? 

9.  Discuss   the    relative   merits   of   the    three   letters. 

10.  What  possible  explanations  are  there  of  tlieir  present  form? 

11,  What  period  of  church  history  do  they  reflect? 


CHAPTER  XVI 
HEBREWS 

This  is  a  great  apologetic  essay  in  the  form  of  a  general 
letter,  upon  the  central  importance  of  the  Christian  faith 
in  the  midst  of  more  imposing  because  more  ritualistic  and 
materialistic  forms  of  worship,  which  are  nevertheless  of 
inferior  merit. 

Not  only  is  it  an  anonymous  work,  but  no  unanimity 
has  been  reached  as  to  its  destination.  Apparently  some 
writer  of  the  first  Christian  century,  who  was  strongly  in- 
fluenced by  both  the  Pauline  thought  and  the  Greek  phi- 
losophy, was  addressing  a  representative  body  of  Christians 
which  was  feeling  the  pressure  of  competition  with  some 
seemingly  more  glorious  because  more  pretentious  religious 
system. 

While  the  influence  of  the  thought  of  Paul  was  strong  in 
this  writer,  there  is  also  considerable  independence  of  Paul. 
The  writer's  philosophical  method  belongs  to  the  type  of 
thought  called  Alexandrianism,  which  was  a  blending  of 
Judaism  and  the  new  Platonism.  An  example  of  the 
thought  of  that  school  is  to  be  seen  in  the  work  of  Philo, 
the  learned  Jew  of  Alexandria  (Egypt),  The  intellectual 
and  religious  position  of  a  Christian  Alexandrian  is  shown 
in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Its  Alexandrianism  is  plainly 
seen  in  the  very  allegorical  use  made  of  the  Old  Testament 
(LXX).  The  writer,  using  a  characteristic  method  of  his 
school,  proved  by  a  scries  of  strong  contrasts  that  Christ 
and  the  gospel,  that  is,  Christianity,  are  of  surpassing  spir- 
itual, eternal  worth  and  glory.     The  writing  is  in  beau- 

3H 


HEBREWS  315 

tiful  and  impressive  Greek  and  was  produced  some  time 
during  the  last  quarter  of  the  first  Christian  century 
(±  80).      It  was  used  by  Clement  of  Rome  (95  A.  D.). 

There  is  a  majestic  sweep  in  the  generalizations  of  the 
book.  It  deals  with  great  cosmic  concepts,  and  yet,  alternat- 
ing with  its  philosophic  flights  of  argument,  there  are  pas- 
sages of  plainest  religious  exhortation.  This  succession 
of  abstract  argument  and  practical  plea  mounts  to  a  skillful 
climax.  To  illustrate  on  how  grand  a  scale  the  religious 
ideas  of  the  epistle  are  drawn,  notice  how  such  a  concrete 
idea  as  the  Old  Testament  Sabbath  takes  on  a  cosmic, 
eternal  significance,  4.  4  and  9.  Note  how  the  priesthood 
has  passed,  in  the  idealization  of  the  writer,  from  an  office 
on  earth,  appointive  or  hereditary,  to  a  great,  eternal  func- 
tion of  the  Divine  Son  who  passes  through  the  heavens, 
4.  14  (also  2.  17;  3.  I ;  7.  26-28).  His  tabernacle  is  spiritual 
and  eternal,  9.  11,  14.  The  blood  which  was  shed  was 
his  own,  9.  14  and  2.  9.  He  was  sacrifice  as  well  as 
priest,  10.  10.  There  was  one  sacrifice,  forever,  of  perfect 
efiicacy  for  sin,  10.  10,  12,  14,  18.  Life  is  a  vast  arena 
in  full  view  of  the  ages  and  of  all  the  worthies  of  the 
faith.  The  heavenly  Jerusalem  is  the  church  of  the  first- 
born in  heaven.  These  are  a  few  of  the  magnificent  con- 
ceptions with  which  the  writer  deals.  (See  also  5.  9;  9.  12; 
9.  I4f. ;  13.  20  for  the  eternal  aspect.) 

The  type  of  thought  found  everywhere  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  helps  us  to  understand  the  growth  of 
Christian  ideas  between  the  age  of  Faul  and  the  time  of  the 
author  of  our  fourth  Gospel.  Paul,  Hebrews,  and  John 
are  in  the  direct  line  of  succession,  illustrating  the  develop- 
ment of  Christian  interpretation,  especially  in  the  Gentile 
field,  through  fifty  years  or  more.  The  deeply  spiritual 
gospel  of  Paul  was  developed  by  Greek  Christianity  to 
the  positions  revealed  to  us  in  Hebrews  and  the  fourth 
Gospel. 

The  idea  of  faith  is  different   in  Hebrews  from   Paul's 


3i6  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

teaching.  According  to  Hebrews,  faith  is  a  firm  conviction, 
an  assurance,  to  which  one  holds  unswervingly,  of  the  verity 
of  the  unseen  or  spiritual  realities.  Thus  its  intellectual 
side  is  emphasized  more  than  in  Paul.  In  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  Hebrews  the  examples  cited  would  almost  allow 
our  defining  faith  as  unshakable  confidence  in  God.  But 
with  Paul  faith  consists  essentially  of  personal  union  with 
Christ.  Thus  we  see  that  in  the  advance  of  Christian 
thought  to  the  position  of  Hebrews  something  is  lost  of 
the  Pauline  doctrine.  It  is  that  mystical  part  of  Paul's 
teaching  about  faith.  Heb  2.  11;  3.  14,  18  offer  only  a 
faint  suggestion  of  it. 

Compare  the  attitude  of  Hebrews  to  the  Old  Testament 
with  Paul's  estimate  of  the  ancient  system  and  Scriptures. 
Paul  allowed  that  the  law  (Mosaic)  had  a  disciplinary, 
guiding  function  for  awhile,  but  Hebrews  reduces  it  to 
the  value  of  a  shadow  in  comparison  to  the  good  things  of 
Christianity. 

Contrast  the  dependence  of  this  author's  thought  on  the 
testimony  of  the  early  disciples  of  Jesus  (Heb  2.  3)  with 
Paul's  independence   (Gal  i.   1-17). 

Contents.  The  theme  of  the  book  is  the  finality  of  the 
revelation  through  Christ.  The  great  argument  of  the 
book  is  found  in  the  first  ten  chapters,  interspersed  as  they 
are  with  practical  applications  for  each  separate  turn  of  the 
thought.  The  v/riter  contrasted  Christ  with  everything 
in  the  Hebrew  religion  that  could  be  brought  in  comparison, 
with  the  result  that  Christ  is  shown  to  be  superior  to 
prophets  (i.  1-3)  ;  to  angels  (i.  4-14)  ;  to  Moses  (3.  1-6)  ; 
to  Joshua  (ch.  4),  for  he  leads  his  people  to  permanent 
rest.  He  is  superior  to  Aaron  (chs.  5  and  6),  who  was 
imperfect  and  his  priesthood  temporary.  Christ  is  a  Priest 
of  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  not  of  Aaron.  Patient  effort 
is  needed  to  understand  this  revelation  of  Christ's  priest- 
hood. Melchizedek  (ch.  7)  stands  for  a  permanent  priest, 
appointed  personally  by  God,  and  superior  to  the  Hebrew 


HEBREWS  317 

priesthood.  Chapter  8  conchides  the  first  phase  of  the  ar- 
gument and  passes  over  to  the  second.  All  the  old  priest- 
hood is  symbolic.  True  reality  belongs  to  the  spiritual 
sphere,  and  the  earthly  phenomena  are  copies  only  of  heav- 
enly reality.  Christ's  priesthood  is  not  an  earthly  unsub- 
stantial thing,  but  a  spiritual  eternal  reality,  therefore  the 
covenant  he  brings  is  better  than  that  of  the  earthly  priest- 
hood. A  consideration  of  the  Hebrew  sanctuary  shows 
this  (ch.  9),  as  does  a  consideration  of  the  sacrifices  (ch. 
10),  for  earthly  sacrifices  could  never  bring  harmony  with 
God,  since  that  is  in  the  spiritual  realm.  They  only  sym- 
bolize a  spiritual  reality.  The  fundamental  reason  for  all 
this  is  that  Christ  is  the  complete  revelation,  while  these 
others  were  by  their  very  nature  and  appointment  inferior 
and  had  only  partial  success.  The  religion  of  Christ  is 
the  religion  of  perfect  access  to  God  (9.  9;  10.  4,  22). 

Each  stage  in  the  argument  has  included  appropriate 
exhortation,  but  chs.  11  to  13  bring  the  book  to  a  close 
with  the  application  of  the  argument  to  life.  In  ch.  1 1  the 
basis  of  religious  life  is  faith,  which  is  the  conviction  of 
the  reaUty  of  the  unseen.  In  this  faith  the  heroes  of  the 
Hebrew  race  themselves  lived.  In  chs.  12  and  13  Jesus 
makes  this  faith  plain,  and  in  it  we  can  live  and,  if  need 
be,  suffer.  Faith  issues  in  a  life  of  good  deeds,  and  needs 
no  visible  altar  and  temple. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Is  Hebrews  a   letter  or  a   book?     Which   verses   give   it  the 

appearance  of  a  letter? 

2.  What  philosophy  was  influential  with  the  writer? 

3.  How  and  where  is  Paul's  influence  felt  ? 

4.  Discuss   Alexandrianism. 

5.  What  place   did  the   writing  to   the   Hebrews  hold   in   the   de- 

veloping Christian  thought? 

6.  Can  you  prove  the  rhetorical   symmetry  and  careful   develop- 

ment of  the  thought  of  the  book  by  a  minute  outline  of  its 
contents  ? 


3i8  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

7.  Read  i.  1-5  and  say  in  what  the  superioritj'  of  the  revelation 

through   Christ  consisted. 

8.  What  is  the  argument  concerning  iVIelchizedek?     Is  there  any- 

thing in  Galatians  like  it? 
g.     What  is  the  significance  of  8.   i   for  the  composition  and  ar- 
gument ? 

10.  State  in  your  own  words  the  argument  in  chs.  8  to  10  on  the 

two  covenants.     Compare  with  Paul's  antithesis  on  the  law 
and   the    Spirit. 

11.  Compare    the    teaching    about    faith    (11.    i-3ff.)    with    Paul's 

teaching. 

12.  Show  traces  of  the  Pauline  st3'le  in  ch.  13,  and  elements  not 

like  Paul. 

13.  Tell  which  are  the  hortatory  passages  in  the  book,  and  show 

how  they  follow  after  the  argumentative  passages. 

14.  How  does  this  writing  mediate  between  the  teachings  of  Paul 

and  those  of  the  fourth  Gospel  ? 

15.  Contrast  the  attitude  of  Hebrews  to  the  Old  Testament  sys- 

tem with  that  of  Paul. 

16.  How  does  this  writing  illustrate  the  fact  that  absence  of  knowl- 

edge as  to  author  and  destination  does  not  destroy  the  value 
of  the  book? 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  GENERAL  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES 

There  is  nothing  else  in  the  New  Testament  quite  like 
the  treatise  called  the  epistle  of  James.  It  is  best  compared 
with  the  homilies  of  the  Hebrew  wisdom  school  or  such 
church  tracts  as  the  Didache.  It  is  one  of  the  best  of  its 
class.  The  mystery  of  affliction  is  interpreted  as  the  trial 
of  our  moral  endurance,  which  is  thereby  perfected. 

Main  Contents.  God,  who  is  generous  and  magnanimous, 
will  grant  to  loyal  souls  the  wisdom  they  require.  He 
causes  to  be  born  within  us  a  truthful  word  which  saves 
us  by  its  dominance  and  is  proven  by  its  good  fruit  in  the 
life.  Sin,  on  the  other  hand,  grows  because  of  one's  con- 
sent to  evil  desire  and  inevitably  leads  to  death  (i.  15). 
A  constant  observance  of  that  word  of  truth  or  that  higher 
liberalizing  law  leads  one  to  the  right  character  which 
must  be  watchfully  maintained. 

Pretense  will  not  avail.  There  must  be  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  right,  merciful  deeds.  The  royal  law  (2.  8) 
is  that  from  Leviticus  (19.  18),  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  Invidious  respect  of  rank  because  of  worldly 
station  is  a  breach  of  that  law  (2.  gf.).  One  of  the  most 
insidious  foes  of  the  true  wisdom  is  the  untutored  tongue. 
It  is  the  great  mischief-maker  (3.  iff.). 

There  are  the  true  friends  of  God  on  the  one  side  and  on 
the  other,  the  friends  of  all  that  he  opposes  which  is  summed 
up  as  "the  world."  Vaunting  pride  and  inordinate  desire 
are  the  expression  of  that  worldly  spirit  which  is  contrary 
to  God  and  is  the  cause  of  unhappiness  (ch.  4). 

The  fifth  and  last  chapter  opens  with  one  of  the  most 

319 


320  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

severe  attacks  upon  the  rich  to  be  found  in  any  religious 
Hterature.  The  writer  then  turns  to  a  consolatory  address 
to  the  righteous  and  presumably  the  poor. 

The  style  of  presentation  in  James  is  peculiar.  It  is  like 
the  successive  links  in  a  chain  of  thoughts,  each  one  sug- 
gested by  some  phase  of  the  preceding  one  or  some  word 
which  gives  a  new  turn  to  the  conversation.  The  writer 
is  thoroughly  steeped  in  his  subjects.  They  are  old  time 
favorites  with  him  and  he  knows  all  their  bearings.  This 
is  evident  in  the  way  in  which  passages  far  apart  from  each 
other  in  his  treatise  agree  so  perfectly  with  each  other.  We 
feel  that  he  could  not  say  anything  that  would  not  be  per- 
fectly consistent  with  that  which  he  has  already  said.  He 
expresses  familiarly  and  easily  the  inmost  subjects  of  a 
lifetime's  meditations.  His  principles  and  lessons  have  been 
absorbed  into  his  very  being.  When  he  speaks  of  them  he 
is  perfectly  easy  and  self-explanatory.  This  gives,  in  con- 
nection with  his  admirable  diction  and  style,  a  classic  of 
the  type  of  Christian  ethics  for  which  he  stands.  This 
author  is  the  New  Testament  wise  man  who  speaks  with  a 
timeless  security  and  oracular  power. 

The  questions  which  arise  are  these :  When  was  this  work 
composed?  Who  was  the  author?  Why  is  it  so  different 
from  the  Gospels  and  epistles  although  possessed  of  much 
of  their  spirit?  What  relation  has  its  thought  to  that  of 
Paul,  especially  in  the  discussion  of  faith  and  works? 

We  are  struck  with  the  independent  manner  in  which 
this  book  treats  of  familiar  themes  and  are  at  a  loss  at 
first  to  say  whether  it  is  a  pre-Christian,  early  Christian,  or 
late  Christian  treatise.  Strong  writers  have  appeared  for 
each  opinion.  One  group  of  critics  says  it  is  a  Hebrew 
work  adapted  by  Christians  to  the  needs  of  the  churches. 
If  the  first  verses  of  chs.  i  and  2  be  left  out,  they  say,  the 
work  stands  as  a  pre-Christian  writing  on  subjects  familiar 
to  a  devout  student  of  the  ancient  prophets,  wise  men,  and 
the  Jewish  writings  between  the  two  Testaments. 


THE   GENERAL   EPISTLE   OF   JAMES      321 

A  second  group  claims  that  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus, 
not  the  apostle  but  the  leader  of  the  Jerusalem  church,  wrote 
the  tract,  probably  between  40  and  50  A.  D.,  or  even  earlier. 

A  third  large  group  would  date  James  late  in  the  first 
century,  or  even  well  along  in  the  second.  When  the  great 
doctrinal  disputes  of  the  apostolic  circles  had  somewhat 
subsided  there  was  need  of  much  disciplinary  care  within 
the  congregations,  which  was  met  by  a  series  of  rather 
tame  moral  treatises,  such  as  the  Didache.  Such  writings 
were  very  dependent  on  the  great  leaders  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament times,  but  either  did  not  show  or  possess  any  power 
to  grapple  with  the  great  doctrinal  problems.  We  have 
several  such  lesser  Christian  writings  in  the  New  Testament. 
James  would  be  held,  by  most,  greatly  to  exceed  those 
works,  although  Luther,  referring  to  its  discussion  of  faith 
and  works,  did  call  it  a  straw-epistle. 

As  to  the  question  of  authorship,  the  only  possible  clue  is 
in  case  the  second  group  of  critics  named  be  right.  If  the 
epistle  came  earlier  or  later  than  James,  we  do  not  know 
who  the  author  may  have  been. 

There  are  several  Jameses  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Two  were  apostles  and  one  was  the  brother  of 
Jesus.  The  apostle  James,  who  was  the  brother  of  John 
and  the  son  of  Zebedee,  was  killed  under  Herod  Agrippa 
in  44  A.  D.  The  other  apostle  James  had  apparently  no 
prominence;  but  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  became  head 
of  the  Jerusalem  church  and  is  mentioned  in  the  lists  in 
Acts  before  Peter  and  John  the  apostles. 

The  difference  between  the  manner  and  content  of  James 
and  the  other  New  Testament  writings  is  best  explained 
by  the  first  and  third  theories,  which  consider  James  a  pre- 
Christian  or  postapostolic  work. 

The  discussion  of  faith  and  works  has  but  remote  verbal 
relation  to  anything  said  in  Paul.  Paul's  doctrine  of  faith 
was  that  it  was  a  vitalizing  union  with  the  spirit  of  Christ 
which    insured    just    those  acts  of  goodness    and    mercy 


322  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

which  James  demands.  Paul  would  certainly  not  base  sal- 
vation upon  those  evidences,  but  upon  the  faith  that  pro- 
duced them.  Still  less  could  he  entertain  such  a  thought 
as  a  dead  faith,  unless  one  meant  by  that  a  lost  faith  or  a 
lost  relationship  with  Christ.  And  by  "works"  Paul  always 
meant,  in  his  discussions,  the  performance  of  legal  require- 
ments, that  is,  "works  of  the  law."  The  benevolences 
which  James  meant  by  the  term  "works"  were,  of  course, 
to  be  expected  in  the  Christian.  The  whole  ethical  and 
nontheological  treatment  of  the  matter  in  James  looks  like 
the  work  of  the  postapostolic  times. 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  excellent  Greek  style, 
the  wide  scope  of  the  address,  the  moral  state  of  the 
society  in  which  the  believers  resided,  the  peculiar  detach- 
ment from  the  problems  and  doctrines  of  the  apostolic  age, 
as  well  as  the  richness  of  the  allusions  to  both  Old  and  New 
Testament  teaching,  indicate  a  late  date  for  this  work. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Read  James  through  and  decide  as  to  what  subjects  are  most 

prominent. 

2.  To   what   class   of   writings    does   James   belong? 

3.  Is   James    predominantly    religious    or    ethical? 

4.  What  are  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  dating  James? 

5.  Why  is  so  little  said  about  Jesus  Christ  in  the  epistle? 

6.  Read  James  i.   1-15  and  show  where  the  suggestion   for  each 

new   topic   is   derived. 

7.  What  is  the  author's  theory  of  sin  in  i.   12-15?     Of  salvation 

in  I.  21,  etc.  ? 

8.  Read  2.    1-13.     Compare  its  teaching  on  the  law    (v.  8)    with 

the  synoptic  and  Pauline  teachings, 
g.     How  may  ch.  3  reflect  disputes  in  the  period  of  the  author? 

10.  Contrast  the  meaning  of  "faith"  and  "works"  for  this  author 

and  for  Paul. 

11.  Compare   the   spirit   of   5.    i-ii    with    Micah's   message. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
FIRST  PETER 

This  is  an  epistle  of  rare  spirituality  and  force,  thought 
by  some  to  be  very  much  in  the  character  of  Peter  and  like 
the  speeches  in  Acts  which  are  assigned  to  him. 

First  Peter  is  a  general  letter,  but  slightly  longer  than 
James,  and  is  addressed  to  converts  from  the  Gentiles 
throughout  the  Asian  provinces.  It  was  probably  written 
from  Rome.  As  in  the  case  of  James,  there  are  suggestions 
both  for  an  early  and  late  date.  If  by  Peter,  then  it  would 
have  been  written  65  A.  D.  or  a  little  later,  after  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Paul  and  while  the  Christian  leaders  still  clung 
fondly  to  a  loyal  recognition  of  the  Roman  government 
as  an  impartial  administrator.  In  this  case  Silvanus,  who 
is  mentioned  as  the  scribe  employed  by  Peter,  must  be  re- 
sponsible for  much  of  the  st}le,  as  the  letter  is  in  excellent 
Greek.  It  is  strongly  hortatory  and  enforces  its  practical 
considerations  with  firm  doctrinal  confidence.  The  work 
is  a  favorite  with  teachers  of  ethics.  It  looks  upon  the 
Christians  as  a  social  group,  affected  by  the  terrors  that 
threaten.  The  impress  of  persecution  is  strong  upon  the 
writer  of  the  book ;  and  if  he  be  Peter,  then  that  impres- 
sion may  be  the  reflection  of  his  own  peril  and  that  of  his 
companions  in  Rome. 

The  peculiar  thing  about  this  book  is  that  it  is  so  strongly 
Pauline,  and  the  question  arises  whether  that  is  because  Peter 
has  become  thoroughly  imbued  with  Paul's  thought,  or 
because  Silvanus  is  allowed  to  express  things  in  his  own 
way  and  in  harmony  with  Paul's  teaching,  or  because  some 
other  person  wrote  the  letter  which  was  later  ascribed  to 

323 


324  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

Peter.    The  letter  is  strongly  suggestive  of  Romans  and  to 
a  smaller  degree  of  Ephesians  also. 

TOPICS  AND  ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  is  the  geographical  situation  of  the  countries  mentioned 

in  the  address? 

2.  Make  a   summary  of  the  contents  of  First   Peter. 

3.  What   Pauline  traits  are   seen   in   the   first   chapter?     Also   in 

2.  24? 

4.  What  points  in  ch.   i   remind  you  of  Hebrews? 

5.  What   passages   and  thoughts   remind   one   of    Colossians   and 

Ephesians? 

6.  What  lesson  is  derived  by  the  author  from  the  experience  of 

suffering?     See  2.  igff. ;  3.  I7ff. :  4.  i,  I2ff. 

7.  Where  does  the  author  express  his  idea  of  the  solidarity  of 

the    Christian    fellowship? 

8.  Collect  the  passages  which   show  the  apocalyptic  expectation. 

9.  Describe  the  diction  and  style  of  First  Peter. 

ID.     How  could  it  be  from  Peter  and  yet  be  so  Pauline? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
JUDE  AND  SECOND  PETER 

JUDE 

The  general  epistle  of  Jude,  a  servant  of  Jesvis  Christ 
and  brother  of  James,  is  traditionally  supposed  to  have 
been  written  by  one  of  the  brothers  of  Jesus  (Mark  6.  3). 
It  is  in  the  form  of  an  open  letter,  with  strong  apocalyptic 
tone,  violently  attacking  a  certain  class  of  persons  who 
claimed  the  liberty  of  joining  gross  immoralities  with  a 
religious  profession,  presumably  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  exercising  their  spiritual  freedom.  There  were  sev- 
eral sects  of  religionists  in  the  second  century  A.  D.,  which 
departed  in  various  ways  from  decent  morals  and  yet  claimed 
to  be  spiritually  led.  These  persons  attacked  by  Jude  may 
have  been  forerunners  of  such  sects. 

Contents.  The  writer,  while  treating  of  the  theme  of 
the  Christian  salvation,  felt  urgently  the  need  of  warning 
the  faithful  ones  of  certain  perverts  within  the  fellowship. 
These  were  not  new  phenomena  in  religion.  Of  the  host 
saved  out  of  Egyptian  bondage  there  were  many  unworthy 
ones  who  had  to  be  destroyed.  So  it  was  with  the  angels 
themselves.  Whole  cities,  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  have 
been  destroyed  on  account  of  sin.  Thus  it  will  be  with  the 
persons  whom  Jude  mentions.  They  make  high  profes- 
sions and  are  guilty  of  low  deeds.  A  Christian  society  that 
tolerates  such  will  be  wrecked.  They  are  useless  egotists 
and  will  be  the  objects  of  God's  terrible  wrath. 

In  former  time  the  apostles  said  that  such  irreverent  mis- 
chiefmakers  would  afflict  the  later  days  of  the  church.  The 
writer  urged  that  these  mistaken  ones  be  sifted  out  discrim- 

325 


326  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

inately  with  an  attempt  to  save  any  that  were  amenable. 
He  commended  the  faithful  to  God,  who  saves  through 
Jesus  Christ  and  who  can  keep  his  own  from  stumbling. 

The  writer  referred  to  the  apocryphal  book  of  Enoch 
(60.  8;  93.  3)  in  V.  14  and  probably  to  the  Assumption  of 
Moses,  another  late  Jewish  writing  in  v.  9. 

This  writing,  together  with  Second  Peter,  parts  of  which 
are  obviously  expanded  upon  the  same  lines,  is  symptomatic 
of  the  foes  which  Christianity  had  to  meet  in  the  age  suc- 
ceeding that  of  the  apostles.  The  purpose  was  clearly  to 
startle  the  readers  into  an  alert  attitude  of  hostility  against 
all  variations  from  the  accepted  religious  and  moral  stand- 
ards of  the  early  Christianity  of  the  apostles.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  explain  the  phases  of  the  error  denounced, 
but  we  surmise  in  the  words  of  attack  what  that  error  was. 

If  the  author  was  the  person  named  in  v.  i,  then  the  date 
was  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  first  century.  Many  students, 
however,  consider  the  writing  pseudonymous  and  find  no 
certainty  as  to  author  or  destination.  They  date  the  epistle 
all  the  way  from  75  to  125  A.  D. 

Second  Peter 

This  is  a  general  epistle  obviously  modeled  upon  Jude, 
most  of  which  is  absorbed  or  expanded  in  this  larger  work. 
It  was  directed  to  Christians  in  general. 

In  the  first  chapter  the  writer  urged  the  readers  to  grow 
in  the  Christian  life  by  the  acquirement,  one  after  another, 
of  all  the  Christian  graces.  These  will  be  a  defense  against 
stumbling  and  will  insure  entrance  into  the  eternal  kingdom 
of  Christ. 

In  the  second  chapter  much  of  the  epistle  of  Jude  is 
seen  in  expanded   form.     Compare 

2  Pet  2.  I.  2  with  Jude  4;  2  Pet  2.  4  with  Jude  6;  2  Pet  2.  6  with 
Jude  7:  2  Pet  2.  10-12  with  Jude  8-10;  2  Pet  2.  13  with  Jude  12; 
2  Pet  2.  15  with  Jude  11;  2  Pet  2.  17  with  Jude  12,  13;  2  Pet  2.  18 
with  Jude  16. 


JUDE  AND  SECOND  PETER  327 

Other  comparisons  are  possible  in  chs.  i  and  3.  In  the 
third  chapter  the  warning  in  3.  1-3  may  be  compared  with 
Jude  17,  18.  Special  attention  is  then  given  to  those  who, 
either  in  despair  or  by  way  of  taunt,  said,  "Where  is  the 
promise  of  his  coming?"  That  is,  there  were  those  who 
discredited  the  current  expectation  that  Jesus  would  come 
again.  The  author  replied  that  as  surely  as  the  earth  was 
once  ruined  by  water  so  it  will  be  destroyed  by  fire  and  is 
driven  to  retort  to  the  complaint  of  long  delay  that  "one 
day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years."  This  third 
chapter  contain  the  author's  apocalyptic  hope  in  frankly 
materiahstic  terms. 

The  fact  that  the  writer  is  plainly  in  those  "last  days"  of 
which  he  speaks  in  3.  3,  4,  that  he  is  faced  by  the  skepticism 
of  those  who  question  the  second  coming  in  a  material  sense, 
that  he  makes  such  evident  efifort  to  authenticate  his  writing, 
as  from  Peter  (2  Pet  i.  i,  14,  16-21;  3.  i),  and  refers  in 
such  objective  manner  to  apostles  (3.  2)  and  to  Paul's  writ- 
ings (3.  I5f.)  as  remote,  that  he  is  dependent  on  Jude, 
itself  having  marks  of  lateness,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
Second  Peter  is  the  latest  of  the  New  Testament  writings. 
The  style  and  thought  are  utterly  different  from  First  Peter. 
Possibly  the  date  may  be  as  late  as  150  A.  D.  ± 

TOPICS    AND    ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  What  are  the  things  which  mark  Jude  as  apocalyptic? 

2.  What  relation  exists  between  Jude  and  Second  Peter? 

3.  What  method  is  recommended  in  2  Pet  i   for  becoming  right? 

Contrast  with  Paul's  teaching. 

4.  What  does  2  Pet  3.  4  reflect  as  to  the  attitude  of  Christians  to 

the  subject  of  the  coming  of  Christ? 

5.  Compare  the  state  of  the  church  as  reflected  in  Jude  and  Second 

Peter  with  that  disclosed  by  the  Pastoral  letters. 

6.  Discuss  fully  the  dates  of  Jude  and  Second  Peter. 


CHAPTER   XX 
THE    THREE    EPISTLES    OF    JOHN 

These  three  short  writings  are  commonly  recognized  as 
being  linked  in  diction,  style,  and  thought  with  the  fourth 
Gospel,  and  must  at  least  have  come  from  the  same  school 
of  writers,  and  probably  are  from  the  same  author. 

They  may  have  originated,  therefore,  in  Ephesus  about 
the  end  of  the  first  century  or  the  beginning  of  the  second. 

The  first  epistle  seems  to  be  a  general  address,  having 
little  of  the  epistolary  form. 

Second  John  is  addressed  to  the  elect  lady.  Whether  this 
was  intended  figuratively  to  mean  the  Christian  Church  or 
literally  to  mean  an  eminent  Christian  woman  is  not  easy 
to  determine. 

Third  John  was  addressed  to  a  certain  Gains. 

Comparison  of  phrases  may  be  made  between 

I  John  2.  7;  3.   11  and  2  John  5. 

1  John  4.  2,  3  and  2  John  7. 

2  John  I  and  3  John  i. 

2  John  4  and  3  John  3,  4. 
2  John  12  and  3  John  13,  14. 

In  First  John  two  themes  are  intertwined:  Belief  in  the 
Son  and  Love  of  the  Brethren. 

In  hirst  John  and  Second  John  occasion  was  taken  to 
warn  against  an  error  that  was  being  taught,  presumably 
in  Asia  Minor,  to  the  effect  that  Christ  had  not  really  come 
in  the  flesh,  that  there  had  been  no  complete  incarnation. 
A  similar  teaching  was  held  l,\v  Cerinthus,  who  believed  that 
a  heavenly  being  united  with  Jesus  at  his  baptism  and  left 

328 


THE  THREE  EPISTLES  OF  JOHN  329 

him  before  his  death.  It  is,  therefore,  frequently  held  that 
the  writer  of  these  two  epistles  was  opposing  the  Cerinthian 
heresy. 

Third  John  sought  hospitality  for  a  friend  of  the  writer 
and  warned  against  a  domineering  Christian  official  who  was 
named. 

Contents  of  First  John.  Chapter  i — In  the  living  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father  and  the  Son  we  are  in  light  and  truth, 
having  been  cleansed  from  former  sinfulness,  upon  confes- 
sion, by  the  blood  (sacrifice)  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Chapter  2 — The  readers  are  exhorted  to  live  without  sin, 
for  knowledge  of  God  and  love  of  God  are  proven  by 
obedience.  They  are  exhorted  to  love  one  another  and  thus 
keep  in  the  light.  Hatred  of  the  brethren  is  darkness. 
The  love  of  the  Father  and  the  love  of  the  world  are 
incompatible.  The  latter  is  transitory.  Then  follow  warn- 
ings against  antichrists.  The  anointing  from  the  Holy 
One  gives  one  the  heavenly  instinct  for  truth,  so  that 
teaching  is  less  needed.  It  is  necessary  to  confess  the  Son 
as  well  as  the  Father. 

Chapter  3 — Those  who  do  no  sin  and  who  love  one  another 
prove  themselves  to  be  the  children  of  God,  whose  Son  was 
manifested  to  destroy  all  wickedness.  Love  is  life:  hate  is 
death :  the  way  to  please  God  is  to  do  right  and  to  believe  on 
the  Son.     Love  one  another. 

Chapter  4 — There  are  diverse  spirits  and  false  prophets 
abroad,  and  their  chief  characteristic  is  that  they  deny  the 
real  bodily  coming  of  Jesus  Christy  in  the  flesh. 

God  gives  his  spirit  to  his  own,  and  then  we  witness  to 
Christ  and  love  one  another.  Perfect  love  casteth  out 
fear.  Love  of  God  is  not  compatible  with  hatred  of  the 
brethren. 

Chapter  5 — Life,  freedom  from  sin,  belief  in  Christ,  obedi- 
ence to  the  Father,  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  to  truth,  the 
love  of  God,  love  of  the  brethren — all  the  themes  of  the 
epistle  are  here  in  an  interlocking  summary. 


330  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

TOPICS   AND   ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Trace  the  similarities  to  each  other  and  to  the  Gospel  of  John 

of  these  three  epistles. 

2.  What  are  chief  differences   among  these   epistles? 

3.  Where  may  they  have  originated? 

4.  What  are  the  main  themes  of  First  John? 

5.  Read  ch.  5  and  give  the  summary  of  the  teaching. 

6.  Show   how   the   style   of   language   and   thought   in   First  John 

mark  it  as  from  the  same  school  as  the  Gospel  of  John. 

7.  What  was  the  Cerinthian  heresy,  and  why  do  we  think  that  it 

was  referred  to  in  these  epistles?     Cite  passages. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE  REVELATION 

The  Christian  Church  inherited  from  Judaism,  with  other 
things,  the  apocalyptic  form  of  literature.  It  appears  even 
in  Paul's  writings.  The  passage  in  2  Thess  2.  1-12  is  often 
called  the  Pauline  apocalypse.  This  passage  presents  the 
idea  of  a  future  conflict  between  God  and  the  powers  of 
evil,  ending  in  a  sudden,  supernatural  victory  of  God.  Mark 
13  and  parallel  passages  also  contain  apocalyptic  elements 
and  are  sometimes  called  the  gospel  apocalypse.  It  is  even 
suggested  by  some  that  Mark  13.  7,  8,  14-20,  24-27,  30 
and  31  are  directly  borrowed  by  the  Christian  editor  from 
Jewish  sources.  The  chapter  is  full  of  apocalyptic  ideas  and 
figures  drawn  from  the  older  writings.  There  will  be  a 
severe  persecution  of  the  servants  of  God,  followed  by  the 
supernatural  overthrow  of  the  powers  of  evil,  and  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  all  this  will  take  place  before 
very  long.  It  was  natural  that  Christianity  should  borrow 
this  literature,  for  it  expressed  the  hope  of  the  Messianic 
age  ;  and  when  persecutions  of  the  Christians  arose,  and  the 
church  stood  in  need  of  the  encouragement  which  apocalypse 
was  able  to  furnish,  Christian  writings  of  this  nature  ap- 
peared. The  only  one  which  found  a  place  in  the  New 
Testament  was  that  ascribed  to  John. 

The  question  about  this  book  which  has  been  discussed 
most  vehemently,  is  one  of  Httle  real  importance — that  of 
authorship.  The  book  has  been  ascribed  to  John  the  apostle. 
This  brings  it  within  the  range  of  that  most  tangled  problem 
of  the  New  Testament,  the  Johannine  problem.  The  writer 
of  the  fourth  Gospel  was  also  held  to  be  the  apostle  John. 

331 


332  THE   BIBLE   AS    LITERATURE 

There  are,  however,  almost  insuperable  objections  to  the 
supposition  that  the  two  books  come  from  the  same  writer. 
The  Greek  used,  the  style,  the  content  of  thought,  the 
doctrines  all  differ  so  much  that  even  if  the  writing  of  the 
two  books  is  put  years  apart,  there  is  still  grave  difficulty  in 
supposing  a  common  author.  If  the  Gospel  is  denied  to 
John  the  apostle,  then  room  is  left  for  the  possibility  that 
he  may  be  the  author  of  Revelation.  Those  who  held  that 
John  wrote  the  Gospel  frequently  assigned  the  Revelation 
to  a  John  the  Presbyter,  a  name  which  rests  upon  rather 
slight  ancient  tradition.  To  the  student  familiar  with  the 
nature  of  apocalypse,  the  fact  that  the  book  is  assigned  to 
John  creates  a  presumption  that  John  did  not  write  it,  but 
that  the  name  was  a  pseudonym.  All  the  other  apocalyptic 
writings,  Jewish  and  Christian,  are  assigned  to  the  names 
of  notable  worthies  in  the  past — Enoch,  Noah,  Daniel,  Ezra 
— and  there  is  a  Christian  apocalypse  of  Peter.  What  more 
natural  than  that  the  name  of  the  well-known  disciple,  John, 
should  also  be  used  in  this  way  by  a  Christian  apocalyptist  ? 
If  the  Revelation  is  written  by  the  person  whose  name 
stands  at  its  head,  it  is  an  exception  to  all  other  known 
apocalyptic  writing.    Who  wrote  it  makes  little  difference. 

The  book  divides  into  two  parts :  A.  Letters  to  the 
churches,  with  an  introduction,  chs.  i  to  3.  B.  Apocalyptic 
visions,  chs.  4  to  22.  The  second  part  is  more  difficult  to 
subdivide.  Chapters  4  and  5  are  the  introduction,  setting 
forth  the  background  for  the  visions  which  are  to  follow. 
Chapters  19  to  22  are  the  conclusion,  a  picture  of  the  final 
triumph  of  God  over  evil.  The  intermediate  chapters  are 
occupied  with  a  series  of  visions,  connected  with  the  symbol- 
ism of  seals  opened,  trumpets  sounded,  bowls  poured  out. 
with  interpolated  visions  not  closely  connected  with  the  rest. 
A  wide  variety  of  outlines  have  been  suggested,  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  the  author  intended  to  arrange  all  of 
his  book  on  a  logical  plan.  An  outline  may  be  made  accord- 
ing to  the  figures  used :  ( i )  Apocalypse  of  the  seven  seals. 


THE    REA^ELATION  333 

5.  I  to  8.  I ;  (2)  Of  the  seven  trumpets,  8.  2  to  11.  19;  (3) 
Of  the  dragon,  12;  (4)  of  the  beasts,  13  and  14;  (5)  of  the 
seven  bowls,  15  and  16;  (6)  of  final  victory,  17  to  22, 

A  simpler  division  is: 

I.  Chapters  4  and  5 — The  introductory  vision. 

II.  Four  divisions,  each  repeating  the  apocalyptic  range  of 
thought — suffering,  conflict,  victory:  (i)  chs.  6  and  7;  (2)  chs.  8 
to  11;    (3)   chs.   12  to  15;    (4)   chs.   15.   I  to   19.   10. 

III.  Figures  of  final  victory:   19.   11  to  22.  5. 

IV.  Final  notes:  22.  6-21. 

Even  this  arrangement,  however,  leaves  the  content  con- 
fused. This  book  is  very  different  from  Daniel,  with  its 
clear  divisions.  Revelation  presents  a  series  of  dissolving 
pictures,  each  of  which  melts  into  the  next.  Nor  are  the 
pictures  taken  together  a  unity.  They  neither  agree  with 
each  other,  nor  do  they  make  a  progressive  course  of 
thought.  They  are  a  loosely  connected  series  of  apocalyptic 
scenes. 

The  use  of  apocalyptic  phraseology  shows  the  long  growth 
of  this  kind  of  literature.  Many  of  the  figures  used  in 
apocalypse  had  come  to  have  a  definite  meaning;  beast  for 
the  enemies  of  Israel,  the  sun  and  moon  darkened  for 
God's  battle  against  his  foes ;  the  new  heavens  and  earth 
for  his  final  triumph,  etc.  The  Christian  use  of  these  figures 
only  changes  their  application  from  Jewish  to  Christian. 
Some  terms  have  lost  their  meaning.  The  three  times  and  a 
half  in  Daniel,  for  example,  had  a  very  definite  meaning; 
here  it  is  used  (11.  3,  11,  12.  6,  14)  only  to  mean  a  brief 
time.  To  one  familiar  with  apocalyptic  language  it  is  plain 
that  the  book  presents  the  same  ideas  under  various  figures, 
making  its  impression,  as  does  Daniel,  not  by  a  progress  of 
thought  from  beginning  to  end,  but  by  repetition  of  ideas. 
This  accounts  for  the  congeries  of  figures — thrones  and 
bowls  and  beasts  and  dragons  and  wildernesses  and  trumpets 
and  books  and  angels  and  temples  and  altars  and  thunders 


334  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

and  horses  and  blood  and  battles  and  rivers  and  stars — a 
kaleidoscope  of  figures,  but  each  having  a  traditional  mean- 
ing in  apocalyptic  literature.  Yet  with  all  the  variety  there 
is  a  unity  in  the  book,  shown  in  its  purpose  of  encourage- 
ment, in  its  st}'le,  in  the  arrangement  by  sevens,  and  in  the 
appropriateness  of  chs.  17  to  22  as  closing  chapters. 

The  book  reflects  a  time  of  danger  and  persecution.  Many 
Christians  were  already  martyrs.  The  great  powers  of  the 
world  were  arrayed  against  the  people  of  God,  who,  unable 
to  resist,  must  sufifer  in  patience  till  God  comes  to  their  aid. 
The  purpose  of  the  book  is  the  common  apocalyptic  pur- 
pose of  encouragement  in  danger. 

1.  Chapter  i  is  a  prologue,  in  the  form  of  a  vision  of 
the  Son  of  man,  who  commissions  the  writer  to  give  a  mes- 
sage to  the  churches.  Notice  how  the  writer,  like  Ezekiel, 
introduces  his  book  with  symbols  of  the  glory  and  power  of 
God,  here  represented  by  the  Messiah.  This  power  forms 
the  ground  of  the  confidence  in  the  ultimate  victory  of  God 
over  evil. 

2.  Chapters  2  and  3  are  letters  to  seven  churches  in  the 
Roman  province  of  Asia,  and  reveal  the  locality  in  which 
the  book  took  final  form.  The  letters  contain  warning  and 
encouragement,  and  are  not  apocalypse,  though  using  some 
apocalyptic  symbols. 

3.  Chapters  4  and  5  form  an  introduction  to  the  visions 
which  follow.  Like  the  prologue,  its  chief  impression  is 
that  Jesus  is  the  glory  and  power  of  God.  The  Messiah 
will  open  a  book  of  the  revelation  of  things  to  come,  so  that 
his  followers  may  be  assured  of  his  final  victory. 

4.  Chapters  6  and  7.  The  book  of  disclosures  begins  to 
be  unsealed ;  but  the  first  seals  when  opened  reveal,  not 
triumph,  but  trouble,  conquest  and  slaughter,  famine  and 
death.  The  martyrs  slain  in  this  persecution  cry  to  God 
for  vengeance,  and,  in  God's  own  time,  vengeance  comes — 
disaster  to  his  foes  and  salvation  and  triumph  to  his  faithful 
people. 


THE   REVELATION  335 

5.  Chapters  8  to  1 1  repeat  figures  of  vengeance,  closing 
with  another  picture  of  the  final  triumph.  Chapter  1 1  deals 
with  Jerusalem.  There  is  a  threat  of  pagan  power  over  it 
for  three  and  a  half  years,  as  in  Daniel,  while  Jehovah  sends 
his  witnesses  (Elijah  and  Moses  or  Enoch)  as  Zechariah  and 
Malachi  prophesied.  They  will  be  killed,  but  brought  to 
life  again,  the  city  judged,  and  the  temple  opened,  not  in 
Jerusalem,  but  in  heaven,  with  songs  ascribing  victory  to 
Christ.  This  chapter  differs  in  form  from  the  rest  of  the 
book.  Its  reference  to  Jerusalem  as  opposed  to  God's  wit- 
ness and  under  heathen  domination  may  point  to  its  origin 
as  a  Christian  oracle  against  Jerusalem  during  or  just  pre- 
vious to  its  siege  by  the  Roman  army  in  70-73. 

6.  Chapters  12  to  14  present  still  other  symbols  of  perse- 
cution, of  conflict  between  God  and  his  foes,  and  of  final 
conquest  by  Christ.  The  figures  of  the  dragon  and  its  fight 
with  mother  and  son  may  have  come  from  ancient  Baby- 
lonian myths  of  the  conflict  at  creation  between  the  dragon 
of  Chaos  and  the  sun-god  who  created  the  world.  Jewish 
thought  could  easily  use  such  symbols  of  conflict  and  victory 
to  mean  the  battle  between  the  supernatural  powers  of 
good  and  evil  and  the  final  victory  of  the  Messiah,  whom 
Satan  would  try  to  destroy  even  at  his  birth.  In  Christian 
hands  the  figure  of  the  triumphant  Messiah  becomes  still 
more  definite,  and  the  child  and  the  goddess-mother  perhaps 
both  mean  the  Christian  Church.  The  figure  of  the  beast 
in  ch.  13  is  another  independent  piece  of  symbolism,  drawn 
from  Dan  7  and  8.  In  apocalypse,  beasts  usually  denoted 
non-Jewish  empires,  and  horns,  sections  of  the  empires,  or 
kings.  This  fact,  together  with  references  to  the  demand 
for  worship,  make  it  probably  that  the  beast  means  Rome, 
with  its  emperor-worship.  The  writer  gives  the  key  to 
this  vision  at  its  end,  in  the  number  666 ;  but  to  modern 
readers  the  explanation  has  been  only  a  further  puzzle,  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that  some  ancient  authorities  give  616. 
The  number  must  be  the  sum  of  the  numerical  significance 


336  TPIE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

of  the  letters  of  some  term  in  Greek,  or  more  probably  in 
Hebrew,  in  both  of  which  languages  letters  of  the  alphabet 
were  used  for  numerals.  The  Greek  for  "The  Latin  King- 
dom" has  been  suggested,  and  the  Hebrew  for  "the  chaos 
of  old" ;  but  the  favorite  suggestion  has  been  the  Hebrew 
for  Nero  Caesar.  It  requires  an  unusual  spelling;  otherwise 
Nero  fits  the  symbolism  very  well,  even  to  the  report  (v.  12) 
that  he  was  still  living  in  the  East  and  would  return  to 
plague  the  empire  again.  If  Nero  is  meant,  the  date  for 
this  section  is  about  68. 

7.  Chapters  15.  i  to  19.  10  contain  symbols  of  destruc- 
tion and  victory,  in  which  Rome,  sometimes  under  the  name 
of  Babylon,  is  regarded  as  the  great  opposing  power.  Some 
of  the  symbols  are  traditional  apocalyptic  terms,  but  occa- 
sionally historic  references  can  be  traced,  as  the  threat  of 
Parthian  invasion  from  beyond  the  Euphrates  in  16.  12. 
Chapter  17  is  rich  in  detailed  references  which  point  to 
Rome,  on  her  seven  hills.  The  same  symbolism  refers  to 
seven  kings  (vv.  10,  11)  with  an  eighth,  "one  of  the  seven." 
This,  with  13,  12,  is  often  referred  to  the  common  belief 
in  the  return  of  Nero.  Verse  10  was  written  under  the 
sixth  Roman  emperor,  but  it  is  not  certain  whether  the 
author  begins  with  Julius  Caesar  or  Augustus,  nor  whether 
he  omits  the  short  reigns  of  Otho,  Galba,  and  Mtellus. 
Perhaps  v.  10  comes  from  Vespasian's  reign,  69-79,  ^^^ 
V.  II  was  added  in  Domitian's  reign,  after  81.  Chapter  18 
is  a  song  of  doom,  based  on  Ezek  26  and  27  and  Isa  47. 
Chapter  19.  i-io  is  a  song  of  triumph  over  the  final  victory. 
Chapter  18  marks  a  time  when  the  Christian  hate  of  Rome 
had  become  very  bitter.  It  is  usually  put  after  the  adoption 
of  a  settled  policy  of  opposition  to  Christianity,  which  dates 
from  about  81,  in  Domitian's  reign. 

8.  The  final  section,  19.  11  to  22.  21,  consists  of  pictures 
of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  God  and  the  blessedness  of  the 
faithful.  The  Messiah  as  a  warrior  will  overthrow  Rome; 
then  Satan  himself  will  fall,  and  in  place  of  kingdoms  of 


THE   REVELATION  337 

evil,  God  will  set  up  his  own  kingdom,  symbolized  by  a 
new  Jerusalem,  a  heavenly  city  set  upon  a  renewed  earth, 
where  sin,  sorrow,  and  darkness  can  never  come. 

This  section  is  the  most  beautiful  passage  that  apocalypse 
ever  produced.  It  is  not  a  description  of  heaven,  but  of  a 
purified  earth,  in  which  only  right  will  rule.  Its  modern 
correlative  is  the  conception  of  a  perfect  society,  without 
misery  or  sin.  As  this  writer,  living  under  the  threat  of 
martyrdom,  dreamed  of  a  triumphant  Christianity  only  a 
little  time  in  the  future,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  was  stirred 
to  an  almost  poetic  expression  of  his  hopes  and  ideals. 

The  book  closes  with  an  epilogue,  whose  last  word  is  the 
encouragement  that  the  fall  of  Rome  and  the  coming  of 
the  Messianic  kingdom  will  be  soon.  It  is  plain  that  the  book 
does  not  all  come  from  the  same  date.  Some  of  it  must  be 
dated  about  68 ;  other  portions  at  least  before  70 ;  most  of 
the  book  after  81  ;  the  letters  to  the  churches  perhaps  after 
100.  This  means  that  the  book  must  be  a  compilation,  com- 
ing from  different  sources  and  edited  perhaps  in  the  perse- 
cutions under  Trajan  in  112. 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  book  may  be  Jewish 
apocalypse,  borrowed  and  edited  for  Christian  uses.  Where 
the  Christian  references  stand  in  no  vital  relation  to  the 
thought  of  a  passage,  it  is  easy  to  regard  them  as  editorial 
interpolations  in  an  originally  Jewish  apocalypse.  Jewish 
passages  may  be  7.  i  to  9,  with  its  list  of  Hebrew  tribes ; 
II.  I  to  13,  with  its  two  witnesses;  chs.  12,  13.  and  18, 
which  for  the  most  part  fit  Jewish  ideas  more  easily  than 
Christian.  There  is  no  universally  accepted  theory  of  the 
composition  of  the  book.  Various  theories  are  held :  ( i )  a 
Jewish  work  with  Christian  additions;  (2)  a  Christian  work, 
but  with  some  borrowed  Jewish  sections;  (3)  a  series  of 
Christian  apocalypses,  edited  by  later  Christians;  (4)  a 
Christian  work  with  previous  Christian  and  Jewish  apoca- 
lypses freely  used.  There  is,  however,  a  practical  unanimity 
in  holding  that   (a)   there  is  some  Jewish  material  in  the 


338  THE   BIBLE   AS   LITERATURE 

book;  (b)  some  Christian  material  from  about  68;  (c)  some 
Christian  material  from  after  8i ;  (d)  the  whole  wrought 
into  a  unity,  along  with  other  new  matter,  not  later  than  112. 
The  value  of  Revelation  does  not  depend  on  questions  of 
authorship  or  composition,  though  conclusions  on  these  sub- 
jects will  afifect  many  details  of  interpretation.  The  literary 
value  lies  in  the  great  amount  of  apocalyptic  symbolism,  in 
the  vigor  of  certain  passages,  like  the  song  of  doom  over 
"Babylon,"  and  most  of  all  in  the  beautiful  pictures  of  final 
triumph,  under  the  figure  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth.  The  religious  value  lies,  as  in  all  apocalyptic, 
primarily  in  its  encouragement  in  the  time  of  trouble.  How- 
ever dark  the  present,  still, 
"Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  his  own." 

TOPICS    AND   ASSIGNMENTS 

1.  Study  2  Thess  2.   1-12,  Mark   13,   for    (i)    meaning  of  figures, 

(2)  apocalyptic  ideas,  (3)  suggestions  of  length  of  time 
before  the  events  are  expected. 

2.  Read,  if  possible  at  one  time,  Rev  4  to  21,  to  find  its  elements 

of  unity.  What  is  the  strongest  impression  which  the  book 
makes  ? 

3.  In  chs.  2  and  3,  what  evidences  of  persecution  of  the  Christians? 

What  were  the  faults  and  the  virtues  of  the  churches?  Were 
they  those  which  mark  the  early  years  of  the  churches' 
founding,  or  a  later  period?  Bearing  of  this  on  the  date  of 
these  chapters? 

4.  Read  one  of  the  sections  (i)  6  and  7,  (2)  8  to  11,  (3)   12  to  14, 

(4)  15  to  19.  10,  noting  the  meaning  of  the  figures,  the 
apocalyptic  ideas,  and  the  main  thought  expressed  by  the 
section  as  a  whole. 

5.  Compare  the  figures  in  13  with  those  in  Dan  7  and  8. 

6.  Compare  ch.   18  with  Ezek  26  and  27,  and  Isa  47,   for  wording 

and  ideas. 

7.  What  are  the  main  ideas  in  the  picture  of  final  triumph,  ig.   11 

to  21.   21 ? 

8.  Has  Revelation  any  present  religious  value?     If  so,  what? 


APPENDIX 


339 


BOOKS  FOR  REFERENCE 

It  is  the  intention  to  provide  a  working  book-list  rather  than 
a  bibliography.  The  more  general  treatises  usually  precede  the 
special  works. 

For  any  library  a  good  Bible  dictionary  is  an  essential.  The 
one  to  be  preferred  is  the  Hastings  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  five 
volumes,  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  and 
usually  referred  to  by  H.  D.  B.  The  price  is  $6  a  volume.  There 
is  a  single-volume  dictionary  also  by  the  same  editor  and  pub- 
lishers costing  $5.  Useful  works  are  the  Standard  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  in  one  volume,  published  by  Funk  &  Wagnalls ;  The 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  the  last  two  editions;  The  Encyclopedia 
Biblica,  New  York,  the  Macmillan  Company,  four  volumes ;  The 
Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  twelve  volumes,  edited  by 
Hastings  and  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

Every  work  mentioned  in  this  list  is  in  English.  Extensive 
bibliographies  will  be  found  in  the  books  noted  below. 

Historical  Works 

R.  W.  Rogers :  A  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Two  volumes. 
New  York,  Eaton  &  Mains.     $5. 

J.  H.  Breasted :  A  History  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.  New  York, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     $1.25. 

J.  H.  Breasted:  A  History  of  Egypt;  similar  to  above,  large,  illus- 
trated,  $5. 

L.  B.  Paton :  Early  History  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  New  York, 
Charles    Scribner's    Sons.     $1.25. 

G.  A.  Smith :  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land.  New 
York,    Armstrong.     $4.50. 

R,  Kittel:  History  of  the  Hebrews.  Two  volumes.  London, 
Williams  &  Norgate.     Per  volume,  ids.  6d. 

H.  P.  Smith :  Old  Testament  History.  New  York,  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons.     $2.50. 

C.  H.  Cornill:  History  of  the  People  of  Israel.  Chicago,  Open 
Court    Publishing    Co.     $1.50. 

C.  F.  Kent:  A  History  of  the  Hebrew  People.  Two  volumes. 
Each  $1.50.  A  History  of  the  Jewish  People.  New  York, 
Charles   Scribner's   Sons.     $1.25. 

341 


342  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

G.  W.  Wade:  Old  Testament  History.     New  York,  E.  P.  Dutton 

&  Co.     $1.50. 
K.   Budde:    Religion   of    Israel   to   the    Exile.     New   York,   G.    P. 

Putnam's  Sons.     $1.50. 
T.  K.  Cheyne:  Jewish  Religious  Life  After  the  Exile.     New  York, 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    $1.50. 
C.  F.  Kent:  Biblical  Geography  and  History.     New  York,  Charles 

Scribner's  Sons.     $1.50. 
E.   Bevan:  Jerusalem  Under  the  High   Priests.     London,   Edward 

Arnold.     7s.  6d. 
E.    Schiirer:    A    History    of    the    Jewish    People    in    the    Time    of 

Jesus   Christ.     Five   volumes.     New   York,    Charles   Scribner's 

Sons.     $8. 
Shailer  Mathews :  A  History  of  the  New  Testament  Times  in  Pales- 
tine.    New  York,  The  Macmillan  Company,  75  cents. 
A.  C.  McGiffert:  A  History  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age. 

New  York,   Charles   Scribner's    Sons.     $2.50. 
J.  H.  Ropes :  The  Apostolic  Age  in  the  Light  of  Modern  Criticism. 

New   York,    Charles    Scribner's    Sons.     $1.50. 
J.  V.  Bartlet:  The  Apostolic  Age.     New  York,  Charles  Scribner's 

Sons.     $2. 
C.  W.  Votaw:   The   Apostolic  Age.     New   York,   The   Macmillan 

Company.     75  cents. 
W.   M.   Ramsay:    St.   Paul  the    Traveler  and   the   Roman   Citizen. 

New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.     $3. 
G.  H.  Gilbert:  The  Student's  Life  of  Paul.     New  York,  The  Mac- 
millan   Company.     $1.25. 
E.   D.   Burton:    The   Records   and   Letters   of   the    Apostolic   Age. 

New    York,    Charles    Scribner's    Sons.     $1.50.      (Interweaving 

the  Epistles  with  Acts.) 
Sanders    and    Fowler:    Outlines    of    Biblical    History    and    Litera- 
ture.   New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    $1.25. 
Certain  leading  Introductions  to  the  Old  and   New  Testaments 
are  indispensable  for  the  teacher  and  for  reference.     A  short  list 
of    such    follows : 
S.  R.  Driver:  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament. 

New   York,    Charles    Scribner's    Sons.     $2.50. 
Bennett  and  Adeney:  A  Biblical  Introduction.    New  York,  Thomas 

Whitaker.     $2. 
C.  H.  Cornill :    Introduction   to   the   Canonical   Books  of    the   Old 

Testament.     New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    $3. 
C.  F.  Kent :   The   Student's  Old  Testament.     Six  volumes.     New 

York,   Charles   Scribner's   Sons.     Per  volume.     $2.75. 


BOOKS  FOR  REFERENCE  343 

C.    F.    Kent :    The    Historical    Bible.      Six    volumes.      New    York, 

Charles   Scribner's    Sons.     Per   volume,   $1. 
H.  T.  Fowler:  A  History  of  the  Literature  of  Ancient  Israel.    New 

York,  The  Macmillan  Company.     $2.25. 
E.    Kautzsch :    Outline    of    the   History   of    the    Literature    of    the 

Old  Testament.     New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 
G.    F.   Moore :    Introduction   to   the   Old    Testament.     New    York, 

Henry  Holt  &   Co.     50  cents. 
J.  E.  McFadyen :  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament.     New  York, 

A.  C.  Armstrong  &   Son.     $1.75. 
B.  Weiss :  A  Manual  of  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.     Two 

volumes.      New    York,   Funk   &   Wagnalls.     $4.    (Best   of   the 

old   works.) 
James    Moffatt :    The    Historical    New    Testament.        New    York, 

Charles    Scribner's    Sons.      $4.50. 
James  Moffatt:  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    New    York,    Charles    Scribner's    Sons,      $2.50. 
B.  W.  Bacon :  An  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.    New  York, 

The  Macmillan  Company.    75  cents. 
B.  W.  Bacon:   The  Making  of  the  New  Testament.     New  York, 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.     50  cents. 
Julicher :   Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.     New  York,  G.   P. 

Putnam's    Sons.     $4.50. 
Allen  &  Grensted :   Introduction  to  the  Books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    $2. 
A.  S.  Peake :  A  Critical  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.    New 

York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     75  cents. 
H.  Von  Soden :  History  of  Early  Christian  Literature.     New  York, 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    $1.50. 
Of  commentaries,  the  leading  series  is  the  International  Critical 
Commentary,  published  in   New  York  by  Charles   Scribner's  Sons, 
$2.50  to  $3  per  volume.     Very  useful  are  the   following: 
The   Cambridge   Bible    for   Schools   and   colleges.     Various   prices 

from  40  cents  to  $2.     See  especially  the  volumes  on  Job  and 

Ecclesiastes. 
The  New  Century  Bible.     London,  Jack.     Per  volume,  2s.  6d. 
The   Bible    for    Home    and    School.      New    York,    The    Macmillan 

Company,  50  cents  and  up.     (Excellent  so  far  as  issued.) 
The  Westminster   Commentary.     London,   Methuen.     Per   volume, 

IDS.  6d. 
The  Expositor's  Bible   (Very  uneven  in  quality.     Especially  good 

are  the  volumes  by  G.  A.  Smith).     New  York,  A.  C.  Arm- 
strong &  Son.     Per  volume,  $1.50, 


344  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

Commentaries  on  separate  books  and  treatises  on  parts  of  the 
Bible: 
The  Hexateuch :  Carpenter  and  Battersby :  New  York,  Longmans. 

Green.     Two  volumes.     $12. 
H.  G.  Mitchell:  The  World  Before  Abraham.     Boston,  Houghton, 

Mifflin    &    Co.       (Excellent    history    of    and    introduction    to 

Pentateuchal   study.)      $1.75. 
H.  E.  Ryle :   Early  Narratives  of  Genesis.     New  York,  The  Mac- 

millan  Company.     $1. 
J.  P.  Peters :   Early  Hebrew  Story.     New  York,  G.   P.   Putnam's 

Sons.     $1.25. 
C.    H.    Cornill:    The    Prophets    of    Israel.      Chicago,    Open    Court 

Publishing  Co.    $1. 
L.  W.  Batten :  The  Hebrew  Prophet.     New  York,  The  Macmillan 

Company.     $1.50. 
H.  G.  Mitchell:  Isaiah   (chapters  I  to  XII).     New  York:  Crowell. 

$2. 
H.  G.  Mitchell:  Amos.    Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.    $1.50. 
Bennett :  The  Post-exilic  Prophets.     Edinburgh,  T.  and  T.  Clarke. 

6s. 
Frederick  Carl  Eiselen :  Prophecy     and  the  Prophets.     New  York, 

Eaton   &   Mains.     $1.50. 
Albert    C.    Knudson :    Beacon    Lights    of    Prophecy.      New    York, 

The  Methodist  Book  Concern.     $1.25. 
T.  K.  Cheyne :  Jeremiah,  His  Life  and  Times.     New  York,  Flem- 
ing H.  Revell  Company.     (In  The  Men  of  the  Bible  Series.) 

75   cents. 
T.  K.  Cheyne :  Job  and  Solomon.     New  York,  Thomas  Whitaker. 

$2.50. 
John   F.   Genung:    The   Words    of   Koheleth.     Boston,    Houghton, 

Mifflin  &  Co.     $1.25. 
John  F.  Genung:  The  Epic  of  the  Inner  Life.     Boston,  Houghton, 

Mifflin  &  Co.    $1.25. 
Sanders  and  Kent :  The  Messages  of  the  Bible.     Twelve  volumes. 

New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     Per  volume,  $1.25. 

On  Gospels 

F.  C.  Burkitt :  The  Gospel  History  and  its  Transmission.  Edin- 
burgh, T.  and  T.  Clarke.    6s. 

A.  Huck:  Synopsis  of  the  First  Three  Gospels.  Eaton  &  Mains. 
$1. 

Stevens  and  Burton :  A  Harmony  of  the  Gospels.  New  York, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     $1. 


BOOKS  FOR  REFERENCE  345 

Allan  Menzies :  The  Earliest  Gospel.     New  York,  The  Macmillan 

Company.     $2.75. 
B.  W.  Bacon :  The  Beginnings  of  Gospel  Story.     Yale   University 

Press.     $2.25. 

B.  W.  Bacon :  The  Fourth  Gospel  in  Research  and  Debate.     New 

York,  Moffatt,  Yard  &  Co.     $4. 

E.  F.  Scott :  The  Fourth  Gospel.  Edinburgh,  T.  and  T.  Clarke. 
$2. 

Percy  Gardiner :  Exploratio  Evangelica.  New  York,  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons.     $4.50. 

James  Moffatt:  A  New  Translation  of  the  New  Testament.  New 
York,  Doran  &  Co.    $1.50. 

The  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament :  A  Translation.  New 
York,  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company.    $1. 

Arthur  S.  Way's  Translation  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  (Excel- 
lent.)    The  Macmillan  Company.    $1.10. 

R.  D.  Shaw :  The  Pauline  Epistles.     Edinburgh,  T.  and  T.  Clarke. 
$3-50. 
Treatises  on  Phases  of  Thought  and  Theology  of  the  Bible 

A.  B.  Davidson :  The  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament.  New  York, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    $2.50. 

H.  G.  Mitchell :  The  Ethics  of  the  Old  Testament.  Chicago,  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press.    $2. 

G.  B.  Stevens :  New  Testament  Theology.  New  York,  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons.     $2.50. 

Henry  C.  Sheldon:  New  Testament  Theology.  New  York,  The 
Macmillan  Company.     $1.50. 

E.  P.  Gould:  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament.  New 
York,  The  Macmillan  Company.     75  cents. 

James  Moffatt:  The  Theology  of  the  Gospels.  New  York,  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons.     75   cents. 

A.  B.  Bruce :  The  Kingdom  of  God,  $2.  St.  Paul's  Conception  of 
Christianity,  $2.  Hebrews,  $2.50.  New  York,  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's Sons. 

G.  FI.  Gilbert:  Jesus.     New  York,  The  Macmillan  Company.    $1.50. 

On  the  Text  and  Canon 

H.  E.  Ryle:  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  New  York,  The  Mac- 
millan   Company.     $1.75- 

F.  P.  W.  Buhl :  Canon  and  Text  of  the  Old  Testament.    Edinliurgh, 

T.  and  T.  Clarke.     7s.  6d. 

C.  R.   Gregory:   Canon  and   Text   of  the   New   Testament.     New 

York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    $2.50. 


346  THE  BIBLE  AS  LITERATURE 

Alexander  Souter:   The  Text  and  Canon  of  the  New  Testament. 

New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     75  cents. 
G.   H.    Ferris :    Formation   of   the   New   Testament.     Philadelphia, 

American  Baptist  Publishing  Company.     90  cents. 
There   is  one   excellent,   popular  biblical   journal   under   scientific 
auspices    published    in    this    country.      It    is    the    Biblical    World. 
University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Valuable  aid   for  the  biblical   student  will  be  found   in  the  edi- 
tions of  R.  H.  Charles  of  apocalyptic  works;   for  example: 

The  Apocalypse  of  Baruch.     London,  A.  and  C.  Black.     $2.75. 

The  Assumption  of  Moses.     London,  A.  and  C.  Black.     $2.25. 

The  Book  of  Enoch.     New  York,   Henry  Frowde.     $4. 


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